Santa Maria issuing record number of illegal fireworks citations in 2025
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The city of Santa Maria will be issuing a record number of citations this year for the use of illegal fireworks on the 4th of July.
More than 100 citations for illegal fireworks are expected to be issued this year in Santa Maria, compared to 63 from last year and just over 20 the year before.
“The three years that I’ve been here, there’s been a prevalent use of illegal fireworks here within city limits,” says Brad Dandridge, Santa Maria’s fire chief. “Once again, this year was no exception.”
Officials say the spike in citations indicates better vigilance on the part of fire prevention efforts, not necessarily an increase in use of fireworks.
“Every year we’re increasing the numbers,” says Chief Dandridge. “It just means that we’re identifying more and more. Hopefully, there comes a time where the numbers reduce, which means that there aren’t as many illegal fireworks use within the city.”
Just a few days before the holiday, 100 pounds of illegal fireworks to be sold were confiscated and an arrest was made, a case currently in litigation.
Since 2022, the City of Santa Maria and its Fire Prevention personnel have partnered with a third party team whose aircraft are equipped with high resolution video and GPS technology.
“The company that we contract, they have the capability of using multiple aerial devices from drones to actual fixed wing airplanes,” says Chief Dandridge.
In order to avoid duplicate citations, fire prevention personnel are reviewing multiple angles of video footage from that night provided from sources both in the air and on the ground.
“We want to leave the aerial fireworks to the professionals,” says Chief Dandridge. “Although it may be fun, there’s hazards, not only safety but also a danger to our community. Luckily, this year we didn’t have any fires that were initiated by the illegal firework use. However, there were communities around this immediate area that weren’t as fortunate.”
Property owners deemed responsible for launching illegal fireworks will be issued a citation and fined $1,000 per violation.
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