Judging by the frequency of the bright colorful explosions of bottle rockets and mortars that burst over Ceres neighborhoods over the Fourth of July holiday, many were still willing to risk getting caught and being handed a $2,500 administrative fine.
And 15 were caught.
Fireworks that fly in the air or that explode are illegal under state law.
Ceres Police issued 15 citations for illegal fireworks during the holiday enforcement period, said Ceres Police Lt. Jeff Godfrey. Of the 15, 12 citations were made through the use of police drone surveillance which also videotaped individuals setting off or possessing the contraband.
On the Tuesday before the Friday holiday, Ceres Police officers seized approximately 500 pounds of illegal fireworks at a north Ceres home and arrested a resident on several charges including felony possession of illegal/dangerous fireworks which may have been stocked for sales.
Jaspreet Singh Chohan, 39, of Modesto was arrested when the officers and the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit executed a search warrant in the 800 block of Rolling Oak Court relating to an ongoing investigation of the sale of illegal fireworks.
Additionally in that case, Jasvir Chohan, 66, of Ceres was cited for possession of illegal/dangerous fireworks under the Ceres Municipal Code. The citation comes with a $2,500 fine.
Ceres Police are investigating an incident that occurred on Friday at Starboard Way and Aristocrat Drive whereby a homemade explosive was lobbed at a pickup passing down the street, with the blast setting off the vehicle’s airbags and causing minor injuries to the occupants.
A total of 104 calls for service related to fireworks were fielded from Wednesday, July 2 to Saturday, July 5. Those calls were handled by three to four extra patrol officers and a community service officer while a records clerk was on staff to monitor the illegal fireworks reporting line and email reports.
Depending on whom you talked to and where, the problem was either just as bad a prior years or a bit less intense.
Residents like Gale Hyatt posted on social media that it sounded “like a war zone over here on Hackett with illegal fireworks on Pleasant and Crown view.” She was not alone. Rhonda Henry Taylor reported a similar situation at the Starlite subdivision between Ceres and Keyes.
The weekend was filled with calls to fight grass fires, many caused by the use of illegal fireworks.
Grass caught on fire and burned a fence at the Pine Ridge Apartments in north Ceres after sunset on Friday, likely caused by the careless handling of legal fireworks.
On Saturday, Modesto Fire crews battled a backyard fire on Herndon Road in Ceres. The call came in at 8:17 p.m. and crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire.
On the Fourth of July, firefighters were busy putting out fires all over Stanislaus County. They included:
• A major grass fire west of Ceres in the vicinity of Hatch and Carpenter roads.
• In the 2300 block of Trail Way in north Turlock a residential garage sustained major damage in a fire reported at 10:40 p.m. Units arrived to find a well involved attached garage on fire. Crews operated in the offensive mode to contain the fire and limit its spread to the first and second floors. The fire was contained in approximately 40 minutes. Five occupants of the house were displaced due to the fire. The county Fire Investigation Unit is looking into the cause of the fire.
• In Riverbank, a 9:46 p.m. grass fire blackened two to three acres and consumed a barn in the Companion Lane and Claus Road area.
• A palm tree caught fire in Turlock near English and E Glenwood Avenue at 9:24 p.m. Local residents put out the fire by hoses before firefighters arrived.
• A grass fire along the shoulder of Highway 99 and Lander Avenue was reported at 9:36 p.m. and was extinguished before it could spread into an apartment complex.
