July 4 Not Much of a Holiday for Firefighters

Firefighters spent the Fourth of July responding to more than 150 small fires throughout Los Angeles County, including some ignited by fireworks.

County firefighters responded to 111 grass fires, 27 tree fires and 22 structure fires between 8 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday, said Ron Haralson, a Fire Department investigator.

In addition, the department reported nine fireworks-related injuries, including seven burns and two eye injuries.

“This is probably one of the busiest Fourth of July’s that we’ve had in a long time,” he said.

Heavy rains this past winter are to blame for excessive grass and vegetative growth, which increases the chance of fires, Haralson said. The dry vegetation can act as a wick, spreading fire to heavier fuel, such as thick brush and chaparral.

In Los Angeles, a five-acre brush fire briefly threatened homes in the West Hills area of the San Fernando Valley before city firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze with the aid of water-dropping helicopters. Arson investigators later determined the blaze was sparked by fireworks.

In all, Los Angeles city firefighters responded to a total of 1,400 calls on Monday, up from roughly 1,200 calls on an average day, said spokeswoman Melissa Kelley. A breakdown of how many were fireworks-related was not available, she said, adding that the overall volume of calls was “high but not significant.”

San Bernardino County Fire Department officials said they did not yet have statistics on Fourth of July fires. But officials said they responded to a number of small fires started by fireworks and that it appeared there were more sophisticated fireworks being used in some instances.

“If you stepped out a back door or a front door of any residence in this valley, you’d have had an awesome show,” said David Dowling, the manager of a county fire dispatch center. “You didn’t have to go to a display.”

Officials in other areas, including Riverside County, however, said they had a relatively quiet holiday weekend. The county department responded to 125 fires between Friday morning and Monday night, many of them vegetative fires, officials said.

County Fire Capt. Rick Vogt said it appeared that brush and other vegetation had not dried out enough to sustain large fires.

“As the dry weather continues, those fuels will continue to dry out,” Vogt warned, “and we certainly will have the potential for large-scale wildfires.”