Four people in Ceres suffered serious burns on July 4. What police think caused them.

At least four people suffered first and second-degree burns to arms and legs from an illegal firework that strayed into a legal neighborhood display Wednesday night, Ceres police said Thursday.

Officers were called at 9:39 p.m. to the 3600 block of Southern Oak Drive, in east-central Ceres, on a report that an aerial firework from an unknown source had caused the injuries.

The victims, including a 10-year-old child, were treated by ambulance crews or at a hospital and released, Sgt. Greg Yotsuya said in a news release.

Officers could not locate the source of the contraband because of the large number of calls on the Fourth of July, he said. The neighborhood is just north of East Whitmore Avenue and east of Boothe Road.

Information can be left anonymously at the Crime Stoppers Tip Line, 866-602-7463 or 209-521-4636.

Ceres police warn that officers will continue to respond to illegal fireworks into the weekend. Violators can be fined $1,000.

Other parts of Stanislaus County reported a relatively small number of fireworks-related problems compared with other Independence Days.

At a home on Novi Drive in southwest Riverbank, a trash can and electrical panel were burned by spent fireworks that had been improperly disposed of, said Capt. Buck Condit of the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District. It responded at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday and quickly controlled the flames, he said.

This story was originally published July 5, 2018 at 3:03 PM.