{"id":393108,"date":"2026-07-10T07:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/393108\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T07:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:20:16","slug":"after-chaotic-4th-of-july-san-francisco-supervisor-pushes-escalating-fines-for-illegal-fireworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/393108\/","title":{"rendered":"After chaotic 4th of July, San Francisco supervisor pushes escalating fines for illegal fireworks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">San Francisco could soon impose a graduated system of fines and penalties for people caught illegally discharging fireworks under a proposal introduced by Supervisor Alan Wong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Wong presented the ordinance during a meeting of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on Thursday, saying the measure would give law enforcement additional tools to address illegal fireworks activity that continues to be a challenge across the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fireworks are illegal in San Francisco, but police were unable to confirm any arrests after fireworks were set off on multiple city streets during Independence Day celebrations on July 4.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Our existing ordinance prohibits the conduct, but it does not provide a local infraction or misdemeanor penalty that police officers can use when they encounter someone actively discharging fireworks,&#8221; said Carl Nicita of the San Francisco Police Department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Wong said the proposal would establish escalating penalties for repeat offenders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">RELATED: <a data-ylk=\"slk:Multiple people lose eyes, hands in illegal fireworks-related injuries in San Francisco;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/multiple-people-lose-eyes-hands-illegal-fireworks-related-injuries-san-francisco\/19460805\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Multiple people lose eyes, hands in illegal fireworks-related injuries in San Francisco<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Under the first infraction, they could get a penalty between $125 to $260 and the second infraction within five years, they could have a penalty $250 to 750. And it can be counted as a misdemeanor,&#8221; Wong said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The proposal comes after a particularly busy Fourth of July for the San Francisco Fire Department. Officials reported nearly 600 calls during a 24-hour period, almost 200 more calls than normal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;With a busy period in the nighttime between nine at 9 p.m. and midnight, with 146 different incidents. There were 17 different grass fires. There were 55 small outside or trash fires,&#8221; said Patrick Rabbitt, deputy chief of operations for the San Francisco Fire Department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Supporters of the ordinance pointed to enforcement efforts in Sacramento, where officials fined people for illegal fireworks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to Sacramento fire officials, fines range from $1,000 to $10,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">RELATED: <a data-ylk=\"slk:SF police in riot gear crack down on 4th of July illegal fireworks shows;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;outcm:mb_qualified_link;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/us\/articles\/sf-police-riot-gear-crack-030657807.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SF police in riot gear crack down on 4th of July illegal fireworks shows<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">During this year&#8217;s Fourth of July celebrations, the Sacramento Fire Department issued about $300,000 in citations. Officials said drone footage documented activity at one home that now faces $100,000 in fines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;They just kept going for hours on end with multiple aerial fireworks. So, we were able to capture that with our drones, very clear footage. And mark in a Google map of exactly what house it was coming from,&#8221; said Capt. Justin Sylvia of the Sacramento Fire Department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some San Francisco residents and community advocates said stricter enforcement is needed as fireworks continue to be set off for days after July 4.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Headphones and earplugs are not a solution for people with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, children on the spectrum or animals. These tools simply don&#8217;t work,&#8221; said Jenny Perez of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Others voiced concerns about the proposed enforcement approach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I have serious concerns about this ordinance, as it really only attacks the issue from an enforcement perspective, which I think has proven in many cases to be truly ineffective. Aside from the racial disparities, that will almost certainly come from an enforcement model like this one,&#8221; said Justice, a San Francisco resident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The ordinance will next move to the full Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks. Wong said he hopes it can take effect this year.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"ct:story;elm:img;itc:0;\" class=\"stretched-box\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/abc-news-live-local-watch\/11513295\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/kgo_articles_913\/131c44567cfd550c1c93df1368fb6896.jpeg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you&#8217;re on the ABC7 News app, <a data-ylk=\"slk:click here to watch live;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/abc-news-live-local-watch\/11513295\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">click here to watch live<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco could soon impose a graduated system of fines and penalties for people caught illegally discharging fireworks&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[158110,45661,158109,156296,20315,7653,101,4773,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-393108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-aerial-fireworks","tag-alan-wong","tag-fines-and-penalties","tag-fourth-of-july-celebrations","tag-illegal-fireworks","tag-sacramento-fire-department","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-fire-department","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}