GILROY
– City police made their first pyrotechnic-related arrest of the
Independence Day season Friday, citing a Morgan Hill man on
suspicion of selling illegal fireworks, a misdemeanor.
A witness reportedly told police 35-year-old Derek Monett tried
to sell him illegal fireworks. Police said they found Monett at his
workplace on the 6900 block of Monterey Street and cited him after
seizing a quantity of illegal fireworks from his vehicle.
GILROY – City police made their first pyrotechnic-related arrest of the Independence Day season Friday, citing a Morgan Hill man on suspicion of selling illegal fireworks, a misdemeanor.
A witness reportedly told police 35-year-old Derek Monett tried to sell him illegal fireworks. Police said they found Monett at his workplace on the 6900 block of Monterey Street and cited him after seizing a quantity of illegal fireworks from his vehicle. Monett admitted the fireworks were his but denied trying to sell them, according to police.
Monett is not alone in breaking fireworks laws, city Fire Marshall Jackie Bretschneider said Monday. The sound of exploding fireworks was heard around town all weekend, a full week before the Fourth of July. If caught, those people could face hundreds or thousands of dollars in fines or even jail time.
“Those are some pretty stiff penalties for something that people just consider one of those minor risks you take in order to have fun,” Bretschneider said.
After a fire-plagued Fourth last year, city police and fire personnel will be increased threefold this holiday. These public safety officers plan not just to confiscate the illicit materials but cite and arrest those who possess illegal fireworks or use legal ones dangerously.
This zero-tolerance policy is part of a multi-faceted strategy to ensure a safe holiday – and to save “safe and sane” fireworks, which are a major moneymaker for 16 local non-profit groups.
Gilroy is the only city in Santa Clara County that doesn’t have a total fireworks ban. Here, city-permitted vendors can sell fireworks that the state considers “safe and sane,” such as sparklers, pinwheels and cones, from July 1 to 4.
Fireworks that shoot into the air, move on the ground or explode – such as bottle rockets, Roman candles or cherry bombs – are illegal throughout California.
Last Fourth of July, the Gilroy Fire Department battled seven vegetation fires and two structure fires, all caused by fireworks, in a seven-hour span. The blazes resulted in $425,000 worth of damage, fire officials estimated.
Many people, including Gilroy City Councilman Bob Dillon, wanted to ban fireworks altogether after last year’s debacle, but the rest of the Council gave city residents another chance. Instead of a ban, then-Fire Chief Jeff Clet drafted a plan to increase police and fire staff this Independence Day.
Three teams, each consisting of three police officers and one firefighter, will patrol the city, according to acting fire Division Chief Ed Bozzo. On top of that, the fire department will have more than its usual number of firefighters on duty, Bozzo said. The added staffing is expected to cost the city about $30,000.
To pay for this, the plan will tax fireworks customers 8 percent. An $8 box of sparklers will cost an additional 65 cents this year, and a $50 package of fancier fireworks will cost $4 more.
The city also made a public amnesty offer for fireworks, but after nearly a month, no one has taken advantage of it.
People can hand in illegal fireworks at the GFD with no penalty, fee or citation. They will not get them back.
“We’re more than happy to cooperate in a non-enforcement means with those people who cooperate with us willingly.”
If this Fourth turns out like the last, Gilroy could ban all fireworks – a severe blow to the groups that sell them legally.
Last July, the Pop Warner youth football and cheerleading league’s fireworks booth raised $21,347 – nearly a quarter of its $90,945 budget for 2003, according to league Treasurer Nora Dipko.
“If we didn’t have our fireworks booth, I don’t think there would be a Pop Warner football league here,” league President Rich Salazar said in March.
It is a difficult balance to allow some fireworks and not others, Bretschneider says. That’s why all other cities in the county have banned them entirely.
“It’s virtually impossible to allow legal fireworks and not get some illegal fireworks as well,” Bretschneider said. “That’s the way most fire chiefs in the Bay Area think.”
Bretschneider noted that even “safe and sane” fireworks may only be set off within Gilroy city limits and only between July 1 and 4. Although many people do not have to work Monday, July 5, fireworks may not be lit that day.
The police department’s main phone number, 846-0250, is doubling as the city’s fireworks hotline. The city encourages people to call this number to report illegal or dangerous fireworks, to get information about fireworks legality or to leave a message for the fire marshall.
