Late night fireworks outbreak in Springs, Sonoma leads to multiple police calls

The explosions and lights of illegal fireworks ripped open the skies on three successive nights over the Sonoma Valley this week, almost all occurring after 11 p.m. in the Springs area.|

The explosions and lights of illegal fireworks ripped open the skies on three successive nights over the Sonoma Valley this week, almost all occurring after 11 p.m. in the Springs area.

'Loud shouts or explosions,' a user of the neighborhood app NextDoor.com posted on Tuesday, June 28. 'Please tell me I'm not the only one who hears this.' Several replies pointed out it happened last year too, again in the days leading up to July 4, and some said it happened every year.

Reports to the Valley Substation of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department started June 28, with the first one at 11:23 p.m. and seven more reports in the next eight minutes, most as 'fireworks' but some as 'disturbance party.' Locations were Agua Caliente to El Verano, including Eldridge and Boyes Hot Springs.

The next night six reports of 'promiscuous shooting' and fireworks in Sonoma near Eighth Street East, as well as El Verano and Boyes, came in between 11:21 and 11:46 p.m.

On Thursday night, June 29, there was only one report of fireworks in El Verano, at 11:21 p.m. But the cumulative irritation prompted Celeste Winters to post an open letter on Facebook addressed to 'Dear Selfish Jerk in the Springs,' reading in part, 'I realize that you get some sort of rush when you shoot off your explosives at 11:20 pm on a Wednesday when children and some adults are sleeping. That must be nice for you.

"However, for the rest of us it sucks.' She goes on to list dogs, sleeping children, the elderly, veterans with PTSD and others who are disturbed by the noise.

A similar outbreak of late night fireworks occurred last August in the days leading up to the beginning of the school year.

According to the Sonoma County Fire Prevention Division, 'ALL fireworks are illegal. During the Fourth of July celebration, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department will be strictly enforcing the ban on ALL fireworks, including sparklers, within the unincorporated areas of the county.

'If you are found using any type of fireworks, you can be arrested and you may be fined, sentenced to jail or both. The fines and penalties increase if you are found in possession of fireworks classified as dangerous.' They go on to emphasize that if you are caught, 'you may be held criminally and civilly responsible for the use and damage caused.'

In the City of Sonoma, the sale, possession or use of fireworks of any type is not permitted.

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