The use of illegal fireworks has long been a big community issue in the city of Woodland.
After an increased enforcement effort this year, the Woodland Police Department updated the community on the number of citations and fines issued for illegal fireworks during the Fourth of July.
Following the announcement earlier in the day that the fireworks show at Woodland High School had been canceled, the WPD expected a busier night than usual.
"It was a busy night which was expected," the WPD social media post read. "The unfortunate canceling of the fireworks show at Woodland High School in addition to those who ignored the possibility of fines and/or their neighbor's health and safety stretched us pretty thin as we also sent officers to help with the fire near Oroville. Please join us in wishing a speedy recovery for the crew that were injured. This accident goes to show just how dangerous fireworks/explosives can be, even for those who are trained professionals."
According to the WPD post, the department issued 34 citations totaling over $100,000 in fines to violators hosting illegal fireworks shows from July 4 through the early morning of July 5. The increase accounted for an over 600% increase in citations from the same time window one year ago.
"Our enforcement of these laws and fines are far from over," the post continued. "We continue to provide extra staffing to deal with those who continue to use illegal fireworks long past the Fourth of July. We are combing through the reports to the Nail 'em App, many of which contain time/location stamped photos/videos of violators. We also have video footage of violators that were taken by our drone team in response to firework complaints.
"These individuals will soon be receiving their citations in the mail or by personal delivery. So yes, for those that we didn't have the pleasure of meeting in person on the Fourth in action, 'You've got mail' on the way."
According to the post, the fines are legally administered and will not "just disappear."
"The bottom line is, we heard the overwhelming majority of our community loud and clear, they do not want to hear/see illegal fireworks," the post concluded. "The response you saw this year will be evaluated, and with any plan, we will see what we got right and identify areas for improvement. While we certainly noticed a marked reduction in illegal fireworks usage in the weeks prior to the actual Fourth of July, what happened on Thursday proved that some just didn't get the message."
On June 27, Woodland police and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection served search warrants at two residences for illegal fireworks. During the investigation, 120 aerial fireworks were located, and a 31-year-old Woodland resident was identified as a suspect.
On July 3, Woodland police detectives arrived at a residence in the 1600 block of Tide Court and arrested Nicholas Cital for possession of over 100 pounds of "dangerous fireworks," which is a felony. Cital was booked into the Yolo County Jail. The city of Woodland fireworks ordinance imposes a $1,000 fine per device, so Cital was also issued a citation with a fine of $120,000.
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