Police said a large amount of illegal fireworks in a storage unit caused the building to catch fire and resulted in everything stored inside to be destroyed. Investigators in the days after the fire found several other storage units with more illegal fireworks.
In addition to the Discovery Meadow at the San Jose Children’s Museum and Almaden Lake Park in San Jose, public fireworks displays are scheduled for sites in Cupertino, Gilroy, Milpitas, Mountain View, Morgan Hill and Santa Clara, according to county officials.
Updated in December 2020, the City of San José now has some of the steepest fines for illegal fireworks use: $1,000 for the first violation, $2,000 for a second violation within 18 months, and $3,000 for a third violation.
