Fireworks sparked 3 fires on a busy July 4th for Visalia firefighters

Crews in Visalia were kept busy on the Fourth of July by various fires that broke throughout last Thursday.

Visalia firefighters were dispatched to 65 calls for service during a 24-hour period, according to Liz Jones, spokeswoman for Visalia's public safety departments.Illegal fireworks are blamed for sparking a large grass fire that grew to an acre. It prompted eight fire units to contain the blaze and prevent the flames from reaching nearby homes and businesses, Jones said in an email.

"There were access problems that added to the complexity of fighting this fire," she said.

There also were three structure fires within a two-hour period starting at 11:47 p.m.

"Two of the three fires were started by improperly discarded legal fireworks in trash cans. The third structure fire was accidental on South Linda Vista.

"The Walnut Fire was started by improperly discarded legal fireworks," Jones said.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Fireworks sparked 3 fires on a busy July 4th for Visalia firefighters