BOISE, Idaho — While people across the Treasure Valley enjoyed the Fourth of July holiday by lighting fireworks, fire departments in the area had to keep pace with dozens of fires that were started throughout the holiday.
In Boise, Meridian, and Nampa, there were 15 confirmed fires that were started by fireworks and ten more that were suspected of being related to fireworks.
Nampa Fire responded to 12 fires, three of those were structure fires. Fire officials say most of those fires were caused by fireworks.
One of those fires caused severe damage to a Nampa home after smoldering fireworks were left in a trash can inside a garage. The fireworks sat and smoldered for hours, eventually building up enough heat to start a fire, according to fire officials. The fire burned much of the garage and smoke from the fire caused heavy damage throughout the home.
Boise Fire responded to 18 total fires, with 11 of which are suspected of being started by fireworks. Six of those 11 were dumpster fires and five were started in trees, yards, and bushes fire officials said.
About a dozen fires were reported to the Meridian Fire Department but crews only responded to two.
Chief Fire Marshall Romeo Gervais with Boise Fire explained that people can take a few steps to help prevent used fireworks from starting fires.
"So what we really recommend is that people let those cool down and making sure those are saturated with water and a bucket and letting them soak," he said. "The big thing is that even after that, we recommend that that trashcan is away from the house or leaving just the fireworks to cool overnight and then picking them up and putting them away the next day."
Ada County officials tell KTVB that they received 303 calls on the use of illegal fireworks between July 3 and July 5 at 10 a.m. and Nampa dispatch says they received 87 calls on illegal fireworks during the holiday.
For Gervais, the waivers that people sign when buying illegal fireworks, which states that people won't use them within city limits, aren't enough.
"They're signing a piece of paper that says we're gonna take the fireworks outside of the City of Boise or outside of our response area, as most people can clearly see from last night's sky," he said. "They're just not telling the truth. So it is frustrating, but what we need is our citizens and our legislators to look at that problem and then come back around and enforce the current laws we have on the books."
Thanks to a combination of illegal fireworks and improper disposal of fireworks, the Fourth of July continues to be the busiest times of the year for firefighters.