By Sara Beth Williams–
Citrus Heights Police, city officials, and Sacramento Metro Fire are warning residents to use fireworks legally and safely or risk incurring steep fines.
Violators of illegal fireworks laws, including a newly approved social host ordinance passed by the Citrus Heights City Council in 2025, face citations of $1,000 per violation and up to $5,000 per violation for repeat offenders.
“No one wins when homes are damaged or neighbors are endangered. Lawful “safe & sane” fireworks let everyone enjoy the holiday without the risks,” Citrus Heights Police reminded on social media last week.
Anyone who sees or hear illegal fireworks, is encouraged to contact Citrus Heights Police at 916-727-5500. Residents can also report illegal fireworks using the city’s SeeClickFix app here.
Historically illegal fireworks have been a challenge throughout the city and the region as a whole, with hundreds of illegal fireworks related incidents logged each year in Citrus Heights, including over 500 fireworks calls reported in the city in 2022, and over 300 calls in 2025 between July 4 and July 5.
While calls for service have been high, the number of citations for illegal fireworks discharged always remained significantly lower in comparison until last year, after the approval of stricter fines for illegal fireworks use, and other updates giving police more enforcement capabilities.
In April 2025, the City Council approved increases in illegal fireworks fines from $750 to $1,000 for a first offense and revised the social host ordinance to include property that is under the “apparent control” of a property owner, which may include sidewalks or other adjacent land.
The revised illegal fireworks and social host ordinances allow police departments to tighten enforcement capabilities, the city said.
Each device discharged is considered a separate violation based on the updated illegal fireworks ordinances, which state that fines are issued per device.
In late 2024, the Police Department also piloted a witness attestation program during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, which allows officers to press charges on residents who light off illegal fireworks based on witnesses willing to testify in person that they observed illegal fireworks being discharged. The department continues the use of the witness attestation program.
In an annual report, Citrus Heights Police Chief Alex Turcotte reported that 49 citations were issued throughout the city after July 4, 2025, and that 350 individual illegal fireworks were observed during Independence Day celebrations.
Only three citations were listed on July 4, 2024, police incident logs show, revealing significant progress made in 2025.
Last year, the police department implemented the use of unmanned aircraft system pilots who were specifically trained to operate drones in difficult airspace. When deployed over Citrus Heights, drones were able to take footage of illegal fireworks, and with the help of a map overlay, code enforcement officers were able to identify addresses where illegal fireworks were being discharged. Of the 49 citations issued in 2025, 21 were observed through the use of drones in the air.
Code enforcement officers were also brought into the dispatch center over the Fourth of July to help handle the high volume of illegal fireworks calls, which Turcotte said represented 52 percent of all calls over the Fourth of July.
Annually, the percentage of calls coming into dispatch over July 4 and 5 regarding fireworks has steadily increased from 44 to nearly 50 percent. Turcotte attributed the higher volume of calls to proactivity.
Following the approval of stricter fines and changes to include a social host aspect to the ordinance, several other neighboring jurisdictions have followed suit, including the City of Sacramento, which updated their ordinance in 2025 to per firework discharged instead of per incident, and Sacramento County and Rancho Cordova, which approved updates to their illegal fireworks ordinances in March of this year.
In 2022, the City Council approved an ordinance banning all fireworks after 11 p.m., including ones labeled “safe and sane.”
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