Heat and fireworks likely combined to start July 4 fires around Bay Area
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The combination of extreme weather and fireworks was to blame for multiple fires around the Bay Area Thursday, making it a busy 4th of July for firefighters.
Santa Clara County
In San Jose, there were several fires around Lake Cunningham. One of them was at the site where the city held a sanctioned fireworks show, but it's not clear yet if those fireworks sparked this blaze.
A viewer shared a video showing a hillside on fire with fireworks going off.
San Jose Fire says this wasn't the only fire in town Thursday night, calling it all "very chaotic."
San Jose fire officials were so overwhelmed with calls they asked Cal Fire for help.
VIDEO: Fireworks, drone shows light up Bay Area skies on 4th of July
Contra Costa County
Fire crews are still working to figure out exactly how many fires broke out Thursday night in Contra Costa County, that's how busy they were.
With flames forcing evacuations in Antioch and triggering an emergency response in a number of other cities, including Concord.
There was a dramatic scene in Concord as neighbors rushed to throw buckets of water on a fire sparked just feet away from homes. Fire crews were still on their way.
It happened just before 11 p.m. off of Richard Avenue as illegal fireworks were going off across Contra Costa County.
"Fourth of July, we're always stretched thin, even when we upstaff, you just can never account for the multitude of specific fire events that will occur and the timing of those incidents," Capt. Victor Daniel, a spokesperson for the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said.
Despite upstaffing and spending weeks warning the public of high fire danger, the county's fire protection district rushed to put out multiple fires believed to be caused by fireworks, on top of their usual medical calls.
In Antioch, one fire off of Lotus Court temporarily forced people out of their homes for about an hour.
Police had to help evacuate seniors in wheelchairs from an assisted living home, right above the fire.
"We identified that there's the potential for the fire to impact the homes so we just wanted to be safe and get folks out of there," Daniel said. "We obviously don't take it for granted when we ask people to leave their homes so we only do it when it's absolutely necessary."
Then there was a fire in Martinez off of Michele Drive, which Daniel says scorched about three acres Thursday night.
Though the cause is still under investigation, fire crews suspect this was caused by fireworks.
Thousands nearby watched the display, which continued to pop off above the crews as they fought the flames.
"While we respond to the incidents, we have no control what other folks do kinda around that, so there was still some fireworks activity going on in the incident but that didn't distract us, we were still able to manage the incident," Daniel said.
Through the weekend, fire officials are warning everyone of the high fire danger amid extreme heat.
They are reminding people that all fireworks, including 'Safe and Sane' fireworks, are still illegal in Contra Costa County.
