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SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - The City of San Jose logged more than 1,800 complaints for illegal fireworks on July 4. Residents said they've had enough.
“It was like a warzone,” said Alan Hinman of San Jose. “It was absolutely unbelievable.”
San Jose resident Alan Hinman has been fighting an ongoing battle to rid Alviso of fireworks shows for years.
“This used to be a city that wasn't a part of San Jose,” said Hinman. “When it was annexed, it kind of left a bad taste in people's mouths so they feel we are going to do what we want to do.”
Wednesday night’s fireworks shows were a watered down version of years past. The annual unsanctioned event brought out hundreds of out of towners.
An Alviso resident, who didn’t want to be identified, said he had a near miss.
“They don't really care what they are doing and they faced them the wrong way,” said the Alviso resident. “They blew up right over our house. The ash came down on our house.”
“The fire department was busy fighting a fire near Alviso,” said Capt. Mitch Matlow of San Jose Fire.
It was a one-acre grass fire. It’s undetermined if that fire and another grass fire were caused by fireworks. The city's online reporting tool received more than 1,800 complaints on July 4 in one day alone. It’s more than the city received in the entire month of June which is 1,300 complaints.
“It’s a great show,” said Alviso Native Steven Espinoza. “There have never been any injures, fires, deaths. It's really safe.”
Espinoza said his family has been doing fireworks shows for years. It’s a family tradition, in his eyes, that does no harm.
Besides concerns with people with PTSD and pets, managers of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Alviso said the noise and shell debris pollutes the waters and affects the wildlife's habitat.
“We would be pleased if the laws were followed,” said Refuge Manager Jared Underwood. “In the refuge, there are species that are found nowhere else in the world than in the San Francisco Bay.”
For next year, residents suggested sobriety checkpoints, a designated spot to shoot off fireworks and no parking areas. The San Jose Fire Department said it won't have the results of its online reporting tool and how many people were fined until August.