Fresno Firefighters use 4th of July for training

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- For Fresno Firefighters in training, the Fourth of July started with a controlled car fire. There were 18 of them working with seasoned veterans to get a feel for what it's like to work in the city on one of the busiest days of the year.

"The focus is getting the trainees ready to be full time firefighters in the City of Fresno and what better way than to actually give them a real experience," said James Scoggins.

This was just the beginning. The trainees were also sent out on patrol in an engine -- one crew at a time. The goal was to support firefighters in the field and help, them move from one call to the next.

"We see a lot of grass fires, especially on the west side where you have some larger fields in between homes," said Scoggins.

James Scoggins says a lot of the fires on Independence Day are caused by fireworks, both illegal and the safe and sane kind. Many times, he says, the grass fires lead to structure fires.

"Everything is firework related and one of the reasons, why July 4th is so busy."

Most of the calls were grass fires on Monday night and the majority of them were firework related. As of 10:30, firefighters were responding to ten different calls.