Firefighters received 88 fire calls on the Fourth of July

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Firefighters around the Central Valley were so busy putting out fires Wednesday night, they didn't have much time to write tickets for illegal fireworks.

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Four task force groups sent out to focus on taking away banned explosives, ended up battling fires once fire calls spiked.

In seven hours, 88 fire calls came into Fresno and Clovis area firefighters.

Far fewer tickets were written Wednesday night, but crews say many areas that are usually filled with illegal blasts were more calm.

Michael Despain with the Fresno Fire Department said, "We did see neighborhoods that we have saturated very hard in the past two years, those neighborhoods were noticeably quiet so we could move into other neighborhoods so, it's a different strategy that we'll be targeting."

Windy conditions also required more engines and firefighters than usual. The Central Valley task force wrote nine tickets for illegal fireworks. In years past, they've averaged about twenty.

No major injuries were reported.

In the video, Action News reporter Sontaya Rose has complete coverage on the story.

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