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FIREWORKS DONTS
Manteca vows stepped up enforcement
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Volunteer Thad Feral models the new Phantom Adventure Backpack at the Love INC fireworks booth at 1125 North Union Road. - photo by HIME ROMERO/The Bulletin

The use of illegal pyrotechnics isn’t the only fireworks laws being aggressively enforced over the next four days in Manteca.
Manteca Police in partnership with Manteca Fire are stepping up patrols on Monday, July Fourth.
“It (the Fourth of July) is by far are heaviest day for service calls of the year,” noted Fire Marshal Lantz Rey.
Rules regarding legal safe and sane fireworks that Manteca will enforce are:
uFireworks may only be sold and discharged in the city limits from June 28 at noon to July 4 at midnight.
uNo discharge of fireworks is allowed on public, semi-public, public right of way areas, or private open areas such as church properties, shopping center properties, and other property generally used by patrons of a commercial or private business establishment, but not including private properties in residential areas.
uNo one under the age of 18 can purchase, possess or use safe and sane fireworks. Only adults or directly supervised persons may discharge safe and sane fireworks.
uFireworks may not be discharged within 10 feet of any residential structures.
uLight fireworks on a flat surface and point away from viewers.
uNo alcohol or smoking is allowed around fireworks.
All illegal fireworks will be confiscated. All fireworks of any kind are illegal in San Joaquin County outside the city limits of Manteca.
A new “social host” ordinance is in effect this year to crackdown on illegal fireworks. No longer is there a need to identify who lights fireworks needed for successful prosecution. Instead, the property where they are being used needs to be identified and the person responsible for it — wither an owner occupied home or a renter — will be cited.
Manteca authorities are encouraging residents to download the app “Nail’Em” available from various app stores to help make those responsible for discharging illegal fireworks in the city pay the price for breaking state and local law,.
The app is simple to use. It has a video component — or you can shoot your video independently using your smartphone video and download it later — as well as a question asking you to authorize the Global Position System to take a reading, an audio portion to make a verbal report, a written section as well and then a form for your contact information to fill out before sending it directly to the email of Manteca Fire Marshal Rey.
You can say you want to make the report anonymously but that reduces the chance of a successful prosecution as police or firefighters would have to be dispatched to see if they can witness an illegal discharge at the address in question. But if you fill out your name and contact, authorities will be able to process the information and with your willingness to sign that you witnessed what happened to collaborate illegal fireworks use, the responsible parties are well on their way to getting at least a $750 fine.
At least a $750 fine because every subsequent violation — an hour later or repeatedly over the course of multiple days — will add a $1,000 fine for each documented occurrence.
The City of Manteca has also established an email address fireworks@mantecafire.org where the information collected using the “Nail ‘Em” app can be sent. The city’s government outreach system can be sued as well as calling the police department’s non-emergency number.