Fireworks blamed for record number of fires on July 4 in parts of Tri-Cities

Tri-Cities firefighters were stretched thin over July 4 as they responded to hundreds of fires sparked by fireworks.

Pasco and West Richland firefighters reported getting called to dozens of blazes and in one case people were still shooting off fireworks while the fields near their homes were burning.

Kennewick and Benton County Fire District 1 reported that they were hopping, but they didn’t see as many calls as other jurisdictions. And Richland fire officials couldn’t be reached Monday.

Officials said fireworks combined with weeks of low humidity and summer heat to ignite the blazes. This year, West Richland had approved permits for 16 fireworks stands, compared to 6 stands in Richland, 9 in Kennewick and 4 in Pasco.

Aerial fireworks are banned in most areas of Benton and Franklin counties, except for West Richland, but it didn’t stop people from using them. While more than 300 called police about fireworks in Benton and Franklin counties, it’s not clear if anyone was cited for using banned fireworks.

Record number of calls

The Pasco department reported the most dramatic numbers with a record 86 calls in a 24-hour period around the holiday. That is 3 1/2 times the normal calls for medical and fire emergencies.

Pasco residents reported 54 fires between 8 a.m. on July 4 and 8 a.m. on July 5 — all but one were believed to have started because of fireworks.

That included 35 grass fires, eight dumpster fires, six house fires and two commercial structure fires.

Crews prevented any significant damage to homes and businesses, but one person suffered a minor burn on his hand. The total acreage scorched was not immediately available.

Richland saw the most severe fire injury when a West Richland man was severely burned after he fell through a burning roof on July 4.

Trevin Hansen had climbed onto the roof of his family’s mini storage business at Badger Mountain Mini Storage, thinking he could put out a small fire, said a GoFundMe started to help with medical expenses.

The Tri-City Herald could not reach Richland fire officials for more information on their investigation into the cause of that fire or how many other fires they responded to over the weekend.

Kennewick blazes

Kennewick also saw an increase in fireworks-related blazes, Deputy Chief Michael Heffner said. Between 6 p.m. and midnight, firefighters went to 12 fires suspected to be started by fireworks. That is up from eight last year.

The deputy chief said he checked a few neighborhoods to make sure they were operating safely, and found the handful of people he visited were being safe and had water ready to extinguish any flames.

West Richland firefighters have not tallied the number of fires in the city limits, but all of the fires they responded to started because of fireworks, said Ben Shearer, the Benton County Fire District 4 public information officer.

That included two different fires that started on the 4000 block of South 38th Avenue. The grass fire threatened homes in the rural residential area was sparked by someone igniting fireworks.

Firefighters had the blaze under control when another errant firework sparked a second fire in the same field, Shearer said.

Some areas of thick brush are continuing to smolder on Monday, Shearer said.

Other homes were threatened by fireworks-caused fires on Hershey Lane and Keene and Lattin roads. The other large fire was at Laurel Drive near an abandoned building. That fire destroyed an outbuilding.

“Crews did a great job,” Shearer said. “We managed to have no damage to primary residences.”

That district is still piecing together a full account of the damage caused by the fires, he said.

Benton County Fire District 1, which includes Finley and wraps around the south areas of Kennewick and Richland, saw several spot fires and one about five-acre fire on East Private Road 2013 S.E.

The fire destroyed several unoccupied RVs, sheds and a wooden fence.

This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 6:01 PM.