Thousands Of Illegal Fireworks Confiscated In Metro Area
DENVER (CBS4) - After a busy holiday fire crews across the Denver metro area were back out Saturday night patrolling for illegal fireworks and thousands were confiscated.
Fireworks are believed to have caused several small fires in the metro area over the past few days, including one in Highlands Ranch Friday night that badly damaged two homes.
Investigators think fireworks weren't thrown away properly and caused the damage to the two homes. They were legal fireworks so nobody will be in trouble for having them.
In Denver and in other areas with bans that wasn't the case, and anyone caught with fireworks paid a big price.
Fireworks of every size, color and kind piled up quickly for Denver police and fire. Thousands of dollars spent were literally just thrown away.
In Aurora, fire crews had a similar night. One stack of illegal fireworks came in within a matter of hours
"The fire investigators that were out doing the fireworks patrols confiscated about $8,000 worth of fireworks and issued nine summons," Cpt. Diane Lord with the Aurora Fire Department said.
On top of the money lost by giving up those fireworks, the summons itself carries a hefty fine. In Aurora the minimum is $250 and maxes out at nearly $3,000.
"The investigators use discretion. We really aren't out to give people a summons or issue them a ticket," Lord said. "We use it as a teachable moment to educate them if they aren't aware of the law."
Despite the massive amount of fireworks that were brought in, a few may have slipped by. Neighbors who caught a brush fire on camera Saturday afternoon say children playing with fireworks were to blame.
Denver police and fire think that on Monday they will have a better idea of a total of illegal fireworks that were confiscated, as well as how many tickets were issued.
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