As the Fourth of July weekend gets underway, San Diego Fire-Rescue is reminding everyone about the dangers of illegal fireworks. It comes after Scripps Ranch residents reported hearing a barrage of them earlier this week, prompting fire safety concerns among neighbors. “I’m proud to be an Ame rican. I’m proud to have served my country, and I’m proud to live here,” Michael Quesenberry said. Michael Quesenberry is among many who are excited to celebrate America’s 250th birthday this weekend. Like many of his neighbors, they want to celebrate safely.   “Obviously, don’t start a fire,” Michael Wear said. Michael and his mother Mary Lou were awakened to a loud sound coming from Jerabek Park behind their home Tuesday morning.The sound didn’t just jolt them awake; it even woke up their dogs. “For the veterans out there, for the people who have PTSD, and for the people who have problems, just don’t do it for someone that has problems sleeping,” Wear said. The San Diego Police Department said they received multiple calls from neighbors about fireworks going off in that area Tuesday around 1:30 a.m. When Michael looked out the backyard, all he saw was a show of fireworks. Although neighbors said this happens almost every year around the Fourth of July, they worry about the fire risk it poses to the neighborhood. “We’re concerned about the fireworks, of course!” Michael Quesenberry said. Many of them still remember how the Cedar Fire ravaged homes in 2003. “It was six houses up the street,” Mary Lou said. “Just seeing the flames over the horizon, that was crazy,” Shannon Holland, another neighbor said. That’s why SDFD wants to encourage everyone to celebrate safely by reminding them that fireworks are illegal in the city and the county of San Diego. “Here in San Diego we have that year-round fire risk, so what may seem fun and a great way to celebrate, they’re illegal and they also can cause those fires in the canyon lands especially,” Candace Hadley with SDFD said. According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2024, fireworks were the cause of more than 34,000 fires across the U.S. ...read more read less