Santa Rosa vegetation fire caused by fireworks, police say

A Santa Rosa man is suspected of setting off fireworks that caused a wildfire near a local elementary school Monday afternoon, police said Tuesday.

Salvador Castillo Lopez, 20, was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully starting a fire, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department.

The fire was reported shortly before 2:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of Moraga Drive in southeast Santa Rosa.

The scene takes place in a field bordered by Kawana Springs Elementary School, the North Bay Children's Centre and the houses of Tokay Street.

Firefighters “quickly extinguished a fire that burned an area of ​​2,500 square feet of mown grass,” police said.

Investigators believe the suspect lit a firework inside a PVC pipe and threw it in the opposite direction of what was intended.

He faces up to six months in prison and a fine if charged and convicted.

According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Santa Rosa reached 97 degrees at the time of Monday's fire.

Police are warning area residents to remember that fireworks are illegal in Santa Rosa during Independence Day and are dangerous in hot, dry weather.

“Each year, emergency services are stretched thin due to preventable incidents involving fireworks and other hazards associated with Independence Day festivities,” police said in a news release Tuesday. “… SRPD has a zero-tolerance stance on the use of fireworks in Santa Rosa.”

Editor Colin Atagi can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi