A solid waste worker goes to drop fireworks in a solid waste garbage cart after they’ve been lit and “burned out” but as he opens the lid Manteca Fire Battalion Chief Travis Gooch pops up.

Gooch admonishes the worker for tossing out the fireworks before they’ve been thoroughly soaked in a bucket of water overnight.

He then slaps the fireworks out of the guy’s hand.

The video posting on the City of Manteca’s Facebook page is a tad humorous but it is designed to drive home a serious point. Illegal fireworks that go airborne aren’t the only fire threat to your home as the Fourth of July draws near.

Safe and sane fireworks that a Woodward Park neighborhood homeowner 10 years ago believed were “out” were tossed in a solid waste garbage cart before the family went to bed.

Several hours later the cart, that was left along an outside garage wall, caught on fire and damaged the house. Embers caused minor damage to a nearby neighbor’s roof.

The fire department stresses used fireworks should be soaked completely in a bucket of water overnight and then placed in your garbage cart the next day.

In the past 12 years, Manteca has had a number of vegetation, fence, and shed fires that were quickly put out before major fire damage occurred as the result of the careless use or disposal of both Safe and Sane Fireworks and illegal fireworks.

There were at least three incidents that went beyond small including:

*Embers from illegal fireworks in 2019 catching a fence on fire and then spreading to two adjacent homes causing extensive damage just southeast of Woodward Park on Derrick Avenue near Snowberry Street.

*Illegal bottle rockets caught a row of 15 Italian cypress that were 25 feet tall on fire in the Raymus Village neighborhood blackening much of the backyard including melting part of the in-ground swimming pool liner with minimum damage to the house.

*In 2014, Manteca Fire crews responding to a two-story house fire in the Crestwood neighborhood had to duck illegal fireworks. The fire truck took several hits. The fireworks were apparently stored in the garage and caught fire. The fire took place in August, further underscoring the danger of simply possessing illegal fireworks at any time of the year.

Over the years there have been a number of injuries including a fire department call where a teen ended up losing a thumb from a fire cracker.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com