Thursday, February 20, 2025
Fireworks Ordinance Work Plan Status Report
Public Safety, Finance, and Strategic Support Committee February 20, 2025
Item (d)4.
Presented by:
James Dobson, Deputy Fire Chief/Fire Marshal – Fire Department, Bureau of Fire Prevention Education &
Outreach
(Awareness)
Enforcement
Reporting
Program Components
2 2024 Goals
✓ Increase Public Awareness about the Dangers of
Illegal Fireworks.
✓ Utilize 2023 Hot Spot Data for Targeted Advertising,
Preemptive Education Presence, and Enforcement
✓ Reduce injuries and fires
✓ Introduce SJ311 City Staff and Public Dashboards
✓ Decrease illegal fireworks activity
✓ Increase awareness of fines
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Work Plan Items
3 Fireworks
Ordinance amended
to include Social
Host Ordinance
Presentation to City
Council in 2020
Fireworks
Ordinance Work
Plan reinstated into
PSFSS Committee
Reevaluation of
citation issuance
protocols
Evaluated the use of
drones for
enforcement
(Revisited)
Comparison of
Fines: Fine amounts
increased
(Revisited)
Funding obtained for
Fireworks Hotspot
Enforcement Pilot
July 4, 2021
Online Illegal
Fireworks reporting
tool SJ311
(Revisited)
Collaborate with
County, State, and
Federal Partners
(Revisited)
Completed Work Plan Items
Evaluate Current
Educational Campaigns
for Cultural Competency:
Multi-Language Targeted
Messaging Based on
Hotspot Mapping
Search for Potential
State and Federal
Funding Sources to
Invest in Enforcement
Mechanisms and
Programs to Deter
Fireworks Use
Ongoing Work Plan Items
Thursday, February 20, 2025
July
2024
• Targeted Police
Enforcement Using
Internal SJ311
Dashboard
• Report Processing
• Citations & Warnings
Issued
Jun
2024
• Fourth of July Public
Awareness
Campaign Launch
May
2024
• Illegal Fireworks
Partnering Agency
Campaign
Discussions Begin
JanFeb
2024
• New Year Public
Awareness
Campaign Launch
• New Years
• Lunar New Year/Tết
Aug
2023
• Completion of
Report Processing,
Citations &
Warnings Issued
• Lessons Learned
Debrief
• Next year’s
planning and
workplan creation
Year In Review
4 Thursday, February 20, 2025
2024 Campaign Outreach
5 All advertising is translated in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese Thursday, February 20, 2025
Campaign Outreach – Web & Social Media
6 Video PSA (all languages)
eNotification sent after press conference
Fireworks webpage
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Campaign Outreach – Press Conference
7 Press conference on July 2, 2024, at Lake Cunningham Park Thursday, February 20, 2025
Fire Department Responses
8 Total Emergency Responses:
23-Lunar New Year,
102-Fourth of July
Structure Fires:
1-Lunar New Year; 2-Fourth of July
Vegetation Fires:
0-Lunar New Year; 38-Fourth of July
Outside Rubbish Fires:
0-Lunar New Year; 17-Fourth of July
Medical Calls:
12-Lunar New Year, 12-Fourth of July
General Smoke/Noise Complaints:
13-Lunar New Year; 31-Fourth of July
0 2
4 6
8 10
12 14
0 20
40 60
80 100
120
140
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Medical Calls
Calls for Service
Fourth of July Fire Department Calls for Service
Calls for Service
Fires
Medical
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Online Reporting Tool (SJ311)
9 Thursday, February 20, 2025
Total Reports Submitted to SJ311:
75-Lunar New Year
824-Fourth of July (29 duplicates)
Warnings Issued:
18-Lunar New Year
105-Fourth of July
Citations Issued (PBCE):
0-Lunar New Year
0-Fourth of July
Reports Utilized for Hotspots:
75-Lunar New Year
819-Fourth of July 0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
0 200
400
600
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Enforcement (Warning/Citation)
Total Reports/Hotspot
Fourth of July SJ311 and Administrative Enforcement
Citations
Warnings
Total
Reports
Hotspot
Data
Illegal Fireworks Hotline and SJ311
10 Total Calls Received:
6-Lunar New Year
201 – Fourth of July
Transferred to Afterhours Service:
2-Lunar New Year
85-Fourth of July
Disconnected After Received
Online Reporting Directions:
4-Lunar New Year
116-Fourth of July
0 200
400
600
800
1,000
0 500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Calls Answered by Staff
Hotline Calls Received/Directed to OLRT
Fourth of July SJ311 Hotline Calls Received
Total Calls
Directed to Online
Reporting Tool (SJ311)
Answered by Staff
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Police Call Volume and Enforcement
11 0
5 10
15 20
25 30
35 0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Calls for Serv ice
Citations/Arrests
Police Department Calls for Service and Criminal Enforcement Criminal Citations
Arrests
Calls for Service
Total Calls for Service:
106-Lunar New Year, 522-Fourth of July
Criminal Citations Issued:
7-Lunar New Year, 7-Fourth of July
Arrests: 2-Lunar New Year, 1-Fourth of
July
Confiscated Fireworks:
300 lbs. (2024 calendar year)
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Illegal Fireworks Dashboard
12 Thursday, February 20, 2025
Source: https://311.sanjoseca.gov/?page=shell&shell=reports-dashboard&reports-dashboard=reports-dashboard-illegal-fireworks Volume of Illegal Fireworks
13 Thursday, February 20, 2025
Targeted
Social Media
Outreach
Refresh
Expanded
Fireworks
Messaging
Toolkit
Collaboration
with City and
County
Agencies
Community
Engagement
Targeted
Enforcement
using Internal
SJ311
Dashboard
Program
Enhancement
Next Steps
Outcomes
14 Thursday, February 20, 2025
Continued Enhancement:
❑ Collaborate with partner departments to address remaining work plan tasks and evaluate lessons learned. ❑ Continued engagement with other local, regional, and state jurisdictions to limit the use of illegal fireworks. ❑ Apply for State and Federal grants to invest in programs to deter illegal fireworks use. ❑ Refresh targeted advertising to educate the public about the dangers associated with the illegal use of fireworks ❑ Targeted high-visibility patrols by Police and Fire in areas identified by Hotspot mapping New Strategies:
❑ Targeted enforcement utilizing Hotspot mapping and enhanced refresh rates of the Internal SJ311 dashboard. ❑ Evaluate alignment with the State’s fine amount of up to $100,000 for selling illegal fireworks and increasing the Spectator fine amount. ❑ Initiate a pilot using Unmanned Aerials Vehicles (UAVs) in conjunction with the Social Host Ordinance for the 2025 Fourth of July Holiday.
Next Steps
15 Thursday, February 20, 2025
Questions?
James Dobson, Deputy Fire Chief/Fire Marshal
Fire Department, Bureau of Fire Prevention
16 Fireworks Ordinance Work Plan Status Report
Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee
February 20, 2025
(d)4.
Thursday, February 20, 2025