LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Law enforcement in the Las Vegas valley are not playing around this Fourth of July holiday, and are getting a jump start on cracking down on illegal fireworks.
“A city this size you can't respond to fireworks all over the city,” says Scott Thompson, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue.
That's why they're getting a jump start cracking down on illegal fireworks.
Las Vegas Police tweeted out a picture Thursday after an officer who caught someone speeding on Highway 160.
The driver had illegal fireworks in their car and were also driving under the influence.
It's just one of many confiscations made valley wide made within the past week, and this year if you light it, they'll write it.
Folks caught with illegal fireworks could face up a thousand dollar citation, even up to six months in jail.
“If you were in an area where there was a lot of fireworks last year, you can probably rest assured the enforcement teams will be in that area during the night at some point."
Area fire rescues are also cracking down.
This year, the Clark County Fire Department announced they will will be using heat maps to detect fireworks and plan on handing out more tickets.
The county says this level of enforcement has not been seen in decades.
“You get the ticket, you're going to a hearing office, 250 bucks first time, 500 after that each time so you don't want to be a repeat offender."
Last year, more than 27,000 reports were received about illegal fireworks associated with the Fourth of July.
Law enforcement hoping folks will report illegal fireworks on ispyfireworks.Com.
They'll be using it to help track down folks using them.
The public is urged to call 311 and NOT 911 to report illegal fireworks.
