New San Bernardino County app can help crack down on illegal fireworks

San Bernardino County fire officials are spreading the word about a new system for reporting illegal fireworks less than a month after an explosion in Ontario left two dead and caused more than $3 million in damage.

Residents can anonymously report the use and sales of illegal fireworks through an online portal that can help fire officials better track activities and identify culprits, according to county Fire Marshal Mike Horton.

Reports collected through the app will go into a database that is viewable by fire and law enforcement agencies, he said. Those reports will be mapped and can be used to direct patrols to heavy-use areas.

Owners of homes where fireworks are observed — including in photos uploaded to the app — will be automatically sent a $1,250 citation through the app, Horton said. Property owners will be on the hook if their tenants are caught using fireworks, he added.

“We need the community to take responsibility and stop using dangerous and illegal fireworks, and report the people that are so we can concentrate our efforts,” Horton said by phone Friday.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department soft-launched the reporting system last year for a month leading up to the Fourth of July, which is peak fireworks season. During that time, the department received about 2,800 reports.

Now the agency has decided to launch the system earlier and keep it in place year-round.

Horton expects the agency to receive upwards of 8,000 to 10,000 reports through the app this year.

The county will also hold 10 fireworks surrender events throughout the year, where residents can unload both legal and illegal fireworks with no questions asked.

“You drive up, fire personnel remove the fireworks from your vehicle, and you drive away,” a release posted to the county fire agency’s Facebook states.

A massive explosion set off by fireworks at an Ontario home in mid-March has refocused regional attention on the scourge of illegal fireworks.

It took several days for bomb technicians to clear the area after the blast, who filled dozens of large bins with the dangerous fireworks before setting them off in controlled burns. Residents in the area were displaced from their homes, which were ruled potentially unsafe in the aftermath.

Cesar Paez-Vasquez, 20, and Alex Paez, 38, are believed to have died in the explosion, according to preliminary identifications by the Ontario Police Department. A GoFundMe launched by Paez’s sister links the men as cousins.

“These two young, driven souls had their lives tragically taken due to an explosion in Ontario, CA,” Guadalupe Paez wrote in the online fundraiser. “Along with this, their homes are now in ruins leaving their families with a heavy weight on their shoulders not knowing what is next.”

An investigation into the cause of the Ontario explosion is ongoing, officials said.

Most illegal fireworks arrive through ports, south of the border or from neighboring states, according to Horton. And while illegal fireworks are common throughout Southern California, Horton said San Bernardino County is uniquely positioned along the Nevada and Arizona borders, where a large influx occurs.

Leading up to the Fourth of July, fire officials set up checkpoints along strategic border entry points, “and it’s literally like shooting fish in a barrel,” Horton said.

Over the past four years, San Bernardino County Fire investigators confiscated over 121,600 pounds of dangerous and illegal fireworks and issued more than 700 citations, according to the news release.

After 17 years with the county fire agency, Horton said he thinks the problem is growing worse.

The COVID-19 pandemic might have inadvertently compounded the problem.

“People have been on lockdown for so long, they’re trying to blow off steam and have some fun and don’t realize the impact they have in Southern California,” Horton said. “Beyond wildfires, seen by the example in Ontario, people get killed and your neighbors are affected.”