Police remind residents fireworks aren
’t allowed in Morgan Hill
Every year, Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies look forward to the Fourth of July festivities with more than a little trepidation as drivers who shouldn’t get behind the wheel often do so.
“Our officers will be out in maximum enforcement,” said Chris Armstrong, public information officer for the CHP. “We’ll be increasing to 12-hour shifts, all our officers.”
Although there will be no DUI checkpoints in the county, Armstrong said, officers will be saturating the roadways looking for dangerous drivers.
According to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), the holiday weekend celebrating the nation’s birth has one of the highest percentages of fatalities involving drinking and driving compared to other holidays.
Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Joe Sampson said although all officers in the department will be working the weekend, they will have to work multiple shifts to cover the events and to be on the lookout for risky behavior.
“We’ll have everybody that we have on during this long weekend,” he said Friday. “It takes the entire department to get through the weekend, to staff the events to have someone available for all the inevitable calls about residents with fireworks and to handle the patrol duties so we can be on the lookout for drunk drivers. But we don’t have the manpower to set up (DUI) checkpoints. It will take everything we have just to handle the events, regular calls and patrol.”
Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Terrance Helm said Friday the department will not set up DUI checkpoints, but deputies will be patrolling the county.
“We are always at high alert, always extra vigilant,” he said. “We’ll be watching specifically of course for illegal fireworks and for drinking and driving. We want to make sure everyone has a safe holiday, everything goes without a hitch this weekend. We ask people to remember it is summer time, and fireworks do cause fires. We ask everyone to do everything in moderation; our officers will be out in force, so if you do drink, do it responsibly.”
The California Department of Forestry is warning local residents of extreme fire danger throughout the county as well. The wet spring allowed an abundance of grasses and bushes to grow, creating a tinderbox easily ignited by stray fireworks. Likewise, the state fire marshall and CDF issued a warning that parents of children who cause a fire with fireworks could be stuck paying the bills to put it out.
“We remind all parents to watch their children closely this holiday and report any fires immediately,” Unit Chief of the Santa Clara CDF Unit said in a written release. “Even if they are playing with Safe and Sane fireworks they could still cause a fire. If a responsible adult reports it quickly, we can usually put it out in time.”
Sampson added that although fireworks are available for purchase in Gilroy, all fireworks are prohibited in Morgan Hill.
“Officers will confiscate fireworks and can issue citations – to the parents if the person using the fireworks is a minor – of up to $1,000 to party that’s cited,” he added. “We recommend that everyone attend one of the many public, professionally-conducted fireworks displays in the area … And remember that there will be a lot of people out on the roads this weekend. This is a good weekend to be especially careful and responsible while driving.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at
md****@mo*************.com
or phoning (408)779-4106 Ext. 202.
