How much did the Modesto police airplane help in fireworks enforcement? Read the numbers

The Modesto Police Department had a hectic and demanding workload Tuesday night amid Independence Day celebrations.

Forty-five citations for the use of illegal fireworks were issued during the night, Lt. Kalani Souza said Wednesday. Of those, about 30 were the result of the MPD’s airplane, Sky 1, being on patrol, the department said in a Facebook post.

Past years have seen anywhere from 10 to 20 fireworks citations over an entire year, Souza said, as people celebrate New Year’s Eve, Cinco de Mayo and other occasions in addition to the Fourth. The addition of a department Air Support Unit has contributed to the dramatic increase, the lieutenant said.

In March, the City Council approved the purchase of an airplane outfitted for police patrol operations. According to Souza, MPD began training the unit and its tactical pilots in May, allowing the deployment of the aircraft this past weekend.

Prior to having an aircraft, MPD would patrol the streets for illegal fireworks. Whether they got a tip or happened upon the site, if there was no direct evidence of illegal fireworks present, there was not much officers could do, the lieutenant said.

“But with our air unit — our eye in the sky — we’re able to direct our cameras system right over to the area where the fireworks are coming from,” Souza said. “And between that, our tactical flight officer, mapping system and the camera system in the airplane, we’re actually able to see exactly what address these illegal fireworks are coming from and capture video evidence at the time that it happens.”

Currently, the citations given for illegal fireworks cost $1,000, but Souza thinks that number may increase in coming years.

Firefighters were also “extremely busy” in Modesto and surrounding communities Tuesday night, according to Modesto Fire Department Deputy Chief Darin Jesberg.

His department responded to 274 calls between 7 a.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday in Modesto, Ceres, Salida, and Oakdale. Incidents included 65 fires, among which were eight structure fires, 41 vegetation fires and 16 trash fires.

“There were many fires reported involving back yards, vacant fields, fences, treetops and trash cans,” Jesberg said in a text message. “Many of the fires were reported in areas of heavy illegal fireworks use. All fires remain under investigation currently with the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigations Unit.”

Modesto Police Department has an enforcement period of about 10 to 14 days, so opportunities to distribute citations remain if people still have illegal fireworks to burn.

This story was originally published July 5, 2023 at 6:34 PM.