A number of California cities, including Sacramento, have begun using drones to locate people shooting off illegal fireworks. From Wednesday to Saturday night, the Sacramento Fire Department’s special fireworks task force patrolled the streets with unmarked cars and drones, focusing on neighborhoods where they’ve had prior complaints. Task force officers and the drones took photos of the illegal activity, and within 30 days the property owner where the fireworks were used could receive a fine in the mail.
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If the property is being rented, the fine will still go to the property owner, Sacramento officials said. “Homeowners around Sacramento might be issuing eviction notices,” Sacramento Fire Department Captain Justin Sylvia told Fox40.
This year, Sacramento upped the fine to $1,000 for the first firework, $2,500 for the second and $5,000 per firework after that. If you lit a firework on city property, such as a park or a school, the fine goes up to $10,000 each. There’s no limit to how many fines you can be issued.
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Beyond the noise complaints, illegal fireworks are dangerous, sparking brush fires with regularity and occasionally causing critical injuries. On Friday, police in Buena Park said an 8-year-old girl was struck when a fireworks display in a residential neighborhood misfired. She was taken to a nearby hospital but died of her injuries. In the Bay Area, a Hayward neighborhood had to be evacuated after a “fireworks-related explosion” caught a house on fire.
Is this weird to anyone else? Fire departments are not law enforcement agencies. They don’t have special task forces or patrol the streets. Fire marshals are not police chiefs. I mean, clearly in...
covert fire department operations
the Sacramento Fire Department’s special fireworks task force patrolled the streets with unmarked cars and drones
“If we see multiple fireworks being used at a single property, we can stack the violations based upon how many fireworks they're using,” SFD Fire Marshal Jason Lee told KCRA.
Is this weird to anyone else? Fire departments are not law enforcement agencies. They don’t have special task forces or patrol the streets. Fire marshals are not police chiefs.
I mean, clearly in Sacramento things are different than I thought. Maybe that’s actually the norm everywhere? I don’t know anything about the firefighting world.
I’m all for firework safety, just didn’t expect it to be enforced by anyone other than actual police.
In California fire marshals are considered peace officers, and from what I can tell, do have law enforcement powers, at least as it relates to fire-related issues.
In California fire marshals are considered peace officers, and from what I can tell, do have law enforcement powers, at least as it relates to fire-related issues.
It makes sense in a dry state like California. A fire can easily get out of hand and kill hundreds of people, make thousands more more homeless, and cause billions in damage. Fire departments also...
It makes sense in a dry state like California. A fire can easily get out of hand and kill hundreds of people, make thousands more more homeless, and cause billions in damage.
Fire departments also have investigators, and part of their duty is to determine if there’s arson behind a fire.
It's kinda weird, but also makes sense to me. It feels like a more proactive version of how fire marshals handle building inspections and safety reports. Especially since the article mentioned...
It's kinda weird, but also makes sense to me. It feels like a more proactive version of how fire marshals handle building inspections and safety reports. Especially since the article mentioned they focused on neighborhoods with prior complaints. Seems like a logical extension of fire investigation.
I also don't think they're enforcing the ban themselves so much as identifying and reporting violations? The city seems to be the one doling out the actual fines, they're just compiling the evidence.
Maybe compare it to the job of a health inspector, who can fine (or close) a restaurant. There are also OSHA inspectors who look for safety violations at businesses. And there are also building...
Maybe compare it to the job of a health inspector, who can fine (or close) a restaurant. There are also OSHA inspectors who look for safety violations at businesses. And there are also building inspectors.
They do have some authority regarding fire safety and prevention. Inspections, investigations, and citations are very much in their wheelhouse when fire code is involved.
They do have some authority regarding fire safety and prevention. Inspections, investigations, and citations are very much in their wheelhouse when fire code is involved.
It's a weird one. I'd usually be on the 'slippery slope/1984' side of the conversation with this, but given the forced draining of California's water reserves earlier this year by the...
It's a weird one. I'd usually be on the 'slippery slope/1984' side of the conversation with this, but given the forced draining of California's water reserves earlier this year by the administration and idiots like the Skydance Exec flying their drone into fire fighting air vehicles...
I absolutely do not blame them for going full throttle against idiots shooting off fireworks. I don't like the transition into a surveillance state either, but this one is hard to argue.
There are special task forces for FDs for specific types of rescue incidents - water rescue, search and rescue, heavy rescue, wildfire, or hazardous materials, etc. they are sometimes all grouped...
There are special task forces for FDs for specific types of rescue incidents - water rescue, search and rescue, heavy rescue, wildfire, or hazardous materials, etc. they are sometimes all grouped under Special Operations/SpecialOps
There are also fire prevention bureaus and, community risk reduction teams, and investigation units.
Fire marshals have been known to go check on, for example, venues that may be filled with too many people, either when reported or doing "random checks".
The thing for me will be if in checking for fireworks, do they ignore anything outside of that purview, barring a literal murder or something, that they might see.
Subreddits have to deal with larger numbers of malicious users that would like to spin articles. As with most social issues the easy solution is to scale everything down. If Tildes was...
Subreddits have to deal with larger numbers of malicious users that would like to spin articles. As with most social issues the easy solution is to scale everything down. If Tildes was reddit-sized we'd have to change our policies. But that would also ruin our site.
the title of the article is super confusing, it sounds like a drone used illegal fireworks to catch Californians. I had to read it multiple times to understand it
the title of the article is super confusing, it sounds like a drone used illegal fireworks to catch Californians. I had to read it multiple times to understand it
Just a heads up: if you would like to be able to edit topic tags and titles yourself, you can message Deimos and ask for those abilities to be enabled for your account
Just a heads up: if you would like to be able to edit topic tags and titles yourself, you can message Deimos and ask for those abilities to be enabled for your account
From the article:
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...
Is this weird to anyone else? Fire departments are not law enforcement agencies. They don’t have special task forces or patrol the streets. Fire marshals are not police chiefs.
I mean, clearly in Sacramento things are different than I thought. Maybe that’s actually the norm everywhere? I don’t know anything about the firefighting world.
I’m all for firework safety, just didn’t expect it to be enforced by anyone other than actual police.
In California fire marshals are considered peace officers, and from what I can tell, do have law enforcement powers, at least as it relates to fire-related issues.
It makes sense in a dry state like California. A fire can easily get out of hand and kill hundreds of people, make thousands more more homeless, and cause billions in damage.
Fire departments also have investigators, and part of their duty is to determine if there’s arson behind a fire.
California treats its firefighters very differently than most other jurisdictions. I believe their income starts above $100k and tops out over $300k.
It's kinda weird, but also makes sense to me. It feels like a more proactive version of how fire marshals handle building inspections and safety reports. Especially since the article mentioned they focused on neighborhoods with prior complaints. Seems like a logical extension of fire investigation.
I also don't think they're enforcing the ban themselves so much as identifying and reporting violations? The city seems to be the one doling out the actual fines, they're just compiling the evidence.
Maybe compare it to the job of a health inspector, who can fine (or close) a restaurant. There are also OSHA inspectors who look for safety violations at businesses. And there are also building inspectors.
Fines aren't the same as arresting people.
They do have some authority regarding fire safety and prevention. Inspections, investigations, and citations are very much in their wheelhouse when fire code is involved.
It's a weird one. I'd usually be on the 'slippery slope/1984' side of the conversation with this, but given the forced draining of California's water reserves earlier this year by the administration and idiots like the Skydance Exec flying their drone into fire fighting air vehicles...
I absolutely do not blame them for going full throttle against idiots shooting off fireworks. I don't like the transition into a surveillance state either, but this one is hard to argue.
There are special task forces for FDs for specific types of rescue incidents - water rescue, search and rescue, heavy rescue, wildfire, or hazardous materials, etc. they are sometimes all grouped under Special Operations/SpecialOps
There are also fire prevention bureaus and, community risk reduction teams, and investigation units.
Fire marshals have been known to go check on, for example, venues that may be filled with too many people, either when reported or doing "random checks".
The thing for me will be if in checking for fireworks, do they ignore anything outside of that purview, barring a literal murder or something, that they might see.
Did we all forget the fires in California from January?
To me it’s like parking enforcers writing tickets.
suggest title edit:
Huge fines after drone surveillance catches Californians with illegal fireworksBut that's not the title of the article.
Clear and unbiased titles are more important on Tildes than 1:1 matches with the article.
Subreddits have to deal with larger numbers of malicious users that would like to spin articles. As with most social issues the easy solution is to scale everything down. If Tildes was reddit-sized we'd have to change our policies. But that would also ruin our site.
the title of the article is super confusing, it sounds like a drone used illegal fireworks to catch Californians. I had to read it multiple times to understand it
That reading didn't occur to me, but sure, why not.
thanks!
Just a heads up: if you would like to be able to edit topic tags and titles yourself, you can message Deimos and ask for those abilities to be enabled for your account
oh wow I definitely do not think I'm competent enough to have that responsibility but I'll keep it in mind! thanks!