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Denver metro fire crews respond to multiple firework-related fires Saturday evening

Posted at 6:46 AM, Jul 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-06 08:56:14-04

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The Denver metro area lit up Saturday evening, but not always in a good way.

South Metro Fire Deputy Fire Marshal Anthony Valdez said as day turned to night, things became more and more chaotic.

South Metro Fire Rescue responded to dozens calls just over the weekend for a number of types of fires.

“Everyone started lighting off their personal fireworks shows," Valdez said. "With the conditions that we've had, there were a number of fires that started within half hour of each other."

They weren't alone — several other agencies received the same influx of calls.

Valdez said they did not plan to upstaff the department like they did on Saturday for Sunday night.

He said they hope people burned through their supply.

The fire department can say the same thing they do every year to try to convince people to be safe. But at a time when public displays aren't really happening, people are wanting entertainment and dry conditions are rampant.

“It just ends up being people are going to do what they're going to do and there's no way we have enough resources on either the law enforcement side or fire service side to intervene to reduce the risk substantially,” Valdez said.

And just hope Sunday night doesn't leave the same impact as the night before.