A Pleasant Hill man in his 60s had his hand severely damaged from mishandling fireworks, and a teenager was injured in a separate fire-related incident.
VIDEO: Illegal 4th of July fireworks light up Bay Area skies
4th of July: Illegal fireworks light up Bay Area skies
"We haven't tallied up the EMS calls up yet this morning, but we're confident that a lot of those EMS calls, and we had a lot last night, were related to fireworks injuries," Steve Hill with the Contra Costa Fire Protection District said.
[Ads /]
Hill says mishandling of fireworks led to a three-acre fire in Walnut Creek that got close to homes. Crews stopped the spread of that fire before any evacuations had to be ordered.
He also says fireworks most likely led to a house fire in Antioch that left the house destroyed.
VIDEO: Chaotic 4th of July sideshow in Antioch with illegal fireworks
VIDEO: Chaotic 4th of July sideshow in Antioch with illegal fireworks
"Of the 60-plus fires, we know for sure eight weren't caused by fireworks. We also know eight were definitely caused by fireworks. And the remainder, do the math, were all likely caused by fireworks," Hill said.
[Ads /]
Hill says they prepared for this day by up-staffing all stations and learning from previous July 4th incidents. However, he says this year saw more incidents than last.
"We still had a pretty significant increase," Hill said. "Looks like about a 25% increase in fires, fire responses year over year."