Contra Costa County deals with danger of illegal fireworks on July 4th

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District says once the sun sets on the 4th of July, they always get hundreds of emergency calls, 80 percent of which come from the eastern areas of Antioch, Pittsburg and Bay Point.

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"On top of property loss tonight we will probably see some sort of injury. We'll see a house probably catch on fire because of aerial fireworks," said Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Carman.

Those fireworks can be extremely dangerous and costly. Illegal fireworks started fires in Brentwood and Antioch in 2016, which caused more than $100,000 in damage.

And this year, Carman says fire danger is still at an all-time high.

"I've been doing this for 35 years and I've never seen a fire season begin this early," he told ABC7 News.

RELATED: Moraga fire contained after enforcing evacuations

With the fire burning in Napa and Yolo counties, Carman says firefighters and departments around the state are already feeling the burn, especially when you add on local fires like Monday's in Moraga which got dangerously close to a neighborhood.

Carmen says he's fed up with the blatant disregard for fire danger. "I think it's not that they don't get the message...I think they just disregard the law and do that in a lot of different ways. And fireworks is just one of those. I don't have a lot of hope," he said.

For more on the 4th of July in the Bay Area and around the country, visit this page.