Fresno Firefighters responded to a half-acre brush fire In Northwest Fresno Monday night. Witnesses say four teenagers were playing with fireworks.
"They were throwing firecrackers. Small ones. Illegal ones and I guess they missed where they were throwing them on the rocks and one hit the dry grass and it just started getting out of control real quick," said witness Hector Rubina.
Hector and his friends were out playing in the river. They tried to put out the fire with their towels but it quickly spread out of control -- so they called 911.
But they weren't the only ones trying to enjoy the recreational area. One woman was treated by firefighters and had to be lifted into an ambulance. "She was running up and because she has asthma. I think she had an asthma attack," said the woman's nephew, Adan Berrera.
Adan said the teens were taunting him and throwing the firecrackers at him when one missed -- causing the fire. Investigators add things could have been much worse because of the dry brush and the remote area was too steep for fire trucks to get in using paved roads.
"People have fireworks, they have to get rid of them so the best place to do it is out in the open somewhere -- where obviously there's a lot of dry grass. It's going to cause some problems," said Gerry Rodriquez with the Fresno Fire Department.
Fireworks are also believed to have sparked at least two other fires in the city.
In Southeast Fresno, firefighters responded to a fence fire Monday afternoon. The fire burned about 50-feet of fence along with some debris in the backyard of a home. Witnesses reported seeing kids playing with fireworks in the area.
And a fire damaged another home early Monday morning in Northeast Fresno. Investigators say the family living in the home dumped the fireworks they ignited earlier into the trash can. The fireworks ended up setting the trash can on fire. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to just the garage attic.
Investigators found at least two firecrackers at the scene of the latest fire but still haven't said if they were actually the cause it. The four teenagers responsible for starting the fire still haven't been caught.
