Las Vegas police write 102 citations for illegal fireworks

Efforts to crack down on illegal fireworks appeared to have some impact, as the number of complaints to Clark County’s dedicated reporting website dropped from about 20,000 in 2018 to under 15,000 this year.

The ISpyFireworks.com site received 14,752 complaints through 9:15 a.m. Friday.

Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department issued a total of 102 citations — 38 in the city and 64 in the county — to people who were setting off illegal fireworks. The citations carry a minimum $250 fine and can climb to $1,000 or more for repeat offenders.

But county spokesman Erik Pappa said Friday morning that Metro officers were likely not done writing citations.

“I understand that more citations may be written throughout the weekend as officers in the field encounter illegal fireworks,” he said.

As for the suburbs, total citations issued in North Las Vegas were pending Friday morning, though spokesman Eric Leavitt said he was working to gather the numbers. In Henderson, officer Rod Pena said numbers of citations would not be available until next week.

The Nevada Highway Patrol has not responded to a request for citation statistics Friday morning.

Crews with the Clark County and Las Vegas fire departments also were kept busy during the holiday.

The Clark County Fire Department responded to 168 calls between 5 p.m. Thursday and 1:30 a.m. Friday, fighting more than 13 building fires leading to damage, according to Pappa.

The Las Vegas Fire Department had responded to about 75 outside blazes by 11 p.m. Thursday. At least three buildings were significantly damaged, including a vacant house near Charleston Boulevard, and a vacant building at 511 S. Tonopah Drive just before 5 a.m.

Firefighter were also called to a house fire on the northwest edge of the valley after a family using Safe-N-Sane fireworks discarded the materials in a trash can too close to the garage door.

“The material had enough heat left to start the trash in the can on fire which extended to the garage and the two cars,” the department said in a statement.

The fire destroyed the garage, damaged both cars, and left smoke damage on a bedroom over the garage, causing approximately $80,000 in damage.

The four residents were all displaced, though uninjured.

It is unclear how many other fire calls — if any — were fireworks related or how many people were injured, but in one case, a young boy was treated for smoke inhalation after he tried to help put out a dumpster fire, according to Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this report.