1,300 pounds of illegal fireworks seized in Tulare County

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Investigators are still searching for a suspect after finding a truckload full of illegal fireworks that had been smuggled into California.

Tulare County firefighters, with the help from the sheriff's office, calculated the final weight of hundreds of illegal fireworks found in a truck between Visalia and Farmersville.

Investigators were lead to the roughly 1,300 pounds of powerful fireworks, like bottle rockets and other explosives, after a tip came through to the Tulare County fire department. The anonymous source said the box truck from Oklahoma was parked on private property selling illegal fireworks.

"He partially had it hiding," Tulare County Fire Captian Joe Rosa said. "How he was making contact with people we still don't know how folks knew he was selling those products."

Fire investigators moved in just before the July 4th holiday after getting a search warrant. Inside they discovered the fireworks. Firefighters say they don't take crimes like this lightly. In California any firework that leaves the ground is illegal.

"It's very serious especially when you're dealing with the drought that we're dealing with," Rosa said. "You know the slightest spark and you have a big fire that wipes out hundreds of homes."

One of the illegal fireworks is called The Decimator. It comes with a mortar tube and 35 mortars that when you drop in and light shoot up into the air and explode.

The seller wasn't at the truck at the time of the search warrant. Investigators know who they're looking for and are in the process of tracking him down.