The crackdown on illegal fireworks use has led to Santa Maria police issuing more than two dozen citations, with smaller numbers doled out by Lompoc and Guadalupe officers.
Santa Maria city spokesman Mark van de Kamp said Monday morning that police officers have handed out a total of 29 citations.
That number could change in coming days based on review of complaints submitted online, van de Kamp said.
Each citation carries a $1,000 fine.
A task force of 12 officers focused on illegal fireworks under a special detail using overtime, costing the city between $15,000 and $18,000, from June 29 through July 6.
Last year’s campaign to extinguish illegal fireworks ended with more than 30 citations.
Lompoc police doled out two citations, with one carrying a $1,500 fine.
Emergency dispatchers received more than 100 firework-related calls during the holiday weekend, city leaders said.
Although officers invited Lompoc residents to share suspected illegal fireworks footage they obtained via the “Ring” doorbell security camera, no recordings were provided to police.
Police received 180 fireworks calls during June, and 92 so far in July for a total of 272 calls. Over the past month there have been an estimated 300 fireworks-related reports made via the Lompoc Police Department mobile app.
Firefighters also had a busy weekend with 45 calls for services including those related to fireworks and other incidents from Friday to Monday. No fireworks-related injuries or damages were reported.
Among the 24 calls on July 4, firefighters handled nine dumpster fires and three vehicle crashes requiring the transportation of two patients to trauma centers via air ambulance, city leaders said. No additional details were released.
In Guadalupe, police handed out four citations, Public Safety Director Michael Cash said.
They also gave 33 written warnings to people violating the laws related to fireworks, most of them on the night of July 4.
“We were inundated on our fireworks hotline and needed to address other calls for service,” Cash said.
Additionally, Cash said his staff confiscated 55 pounds of fireworks.
Santa Maria and Guadalupe have social-host ordinances that allow citations to also go to property owners in certain cases.
Only the cities of Santa Maria, Lompoc and Guadalupe allow the sale of safe and sane fireworks, but limit use to July 4. All fireworks remain prohibited in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Solvang, Buellton, Carpinteria and the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County.
In Santa Barbara, first-responders were busy after the emergency dispatchers fielded a 45 percent increase in calls for service when compared to the five-year average for July 4, Police Department spokesman Anthony Wagner said.
A total of 51 police reports were documented over the two-day period.
In all, police addressed 475 calls for service July 4 through July 5, with 60 of those calls coming from constituents worried about their neighbors launching high-powered mortar fireworks, Wagner added.
A total of 158 calls were fireworks-related. The five-year average for fireworks-related calls is approximately 40.
Police also received 20 calls reporting loud house parties where revelers were not adhering to public health directives, Wagner said.
The city also saw a rise in violent and serious felonies during the holiday weekend – 11 with four involving assaults with a deadly weapon.
Additionally, police responded to a hit and run with injuries in the downtown area as well as three grand theft investigations.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.