Fireworks-related incidents down in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park

MENLO PARK – Fireworks-related calls this fireworks season fell by roughly 45% in Menlo Park compared with last year, while East Palo Alto saw a nearly 60% decrease in non-gunfire activations of its gunfire-detection technology during the same time frame, according to a task force assembled to rein in the use of illegal fireworks.

The task force – composed of officers from the East Palo Alto and Menlo Park police departments and members of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District – seized 3,656 pounds of fireworks worth $73,122, according to a statement released Wednesday.

The seizure prevented 86,151 “audible discharges” from taking place in the cities, the task force said.

Fireworks-related calls dropped by 44% in Menlo Park, an outcome the task force attributed to its efforts, as well as an education campaign and stepped-up patrols with new enforcement tools.

In neighboring East Palo Alto, non-gunfire activations of the city’s ShotSpotter technology decreased by 58% when comparing 2021 with 2020, according to the statement.

The fire district, meanwhile, was called to five small fireworks-related brush fires between July 4 and July 5, the task force said. No damage was reported. Last year, fireworks touched off fires at a house and a carport, as well as a larger brush fire.

The task force was assembled earlier this year to “strike at the root of the fireworks epidemic” that plagues East Palo Alto and Menlo Park year after year, according to the statement.