House Fire Started By Fireworks In Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, CA — Fireworks-related calls kept North Bay first responders busy over July 4, amid a prolonged heat wave, including at least one house fire in Santa Rosa.

The Santa Rosa Fire Department said multiple 911 callers reported the fire shortly after 10 p.m. at a home on Cavendish Avenue and Amador Drive, on the city's west side. Fire crews arrived within five minutes and saw flames extending from vegetation to a wooden fence and the side of a single-story house.

Fire crews reported the flames burnt through the home's siding and were spreading into the attic space. Firefighters mounted an aggressive attack and got the blaze under control in roughly 20 minutes, officials said. The home's sole occupant escaped without injuries.

"The Santa Rosa Fire Department had extra fire investigators on duty as a pre-planned measure to enforce Santa Rosa's fireworks ban," the department said on Facebook. "Due to their investigative work, it was determined that the fire had started from illegal use of fireworks in the area. This was one of about a dozen fire department calls related to the illegal use of fireworks in the city."

Officials said a grass fire that ignited off Montecito Avenue was also the result of illegal fireworks, and at least one man suffered injuries from an aerial firework. Police and fire investigators said "large quantities of fireworks" were confiscated over the holiday.