TRACY, Calif. — Jenn Prendergast, of Tracy, had her first 4th of July off work in nearly a decade and it was one that will change her feelings toward the holiday for some time to come.
“Me and my boyfriend, this is actually the first Fourth of July that we have had off, for me in nine years and for him in about 15, because we always worked on the Fourth of July. With COVID and the shutdowns, this is the first time we’ve had it off, and it was the worst,” Prendergast said.
Prendergast said the side of her home caught fire after a neighbor allegedly lit off what she believes were illegal fireworks. Prendergast's security camera video showed the fireworks hit her property.
"It very clearly shows our neighbors setting off very illegal fireworks, and it looked like one of the mortars tipped over and shot explosives into the front of our house," Prendergast said. "And then, you see one disappear over the house and then you see the reflection in some of the vehicles of the fire starting.”
The neighbor, Rachel Flores told ABC10 that her fireworks weren't illegal and that they didn't cause the fire.
According to Cal Fire, "fireworks that that explode, go into the air, or move on the ground in an uncontrollable manner" are illegal in California.
Prendergast said she got a call from a neighbor about the fire and immediately made her way back home. By the time she arrived, firefighters had already doused the flames on the side of her house, but the damage was done.
Her fence was charred, and her chicken coop scorched and melted. The home also endured some damage to the garage.
Photos: Alleged illegal fireworks scorch Tracy woman's home
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However, for Prendergast, the most disconcerting factor was the effect on her animals. The fire burned near the entry door of her chicken coop.
Her roommate was around to let the chickens out of the coop and hose down the property and the birds, who escaped with some singed feathers and some coughing fits.
She said her dogs, Chiclet, Bam-Bam, Chi-Chi, and Rosa, were singed during the fire but are doing much better now.
"For me, I don’t have children. The animals are the things that I take care of; they are my children," Prendergast said. "And the thought of them suffering like that in a fire. I mean that sent me into a near panic. I don’t care about the house. I don’t care about any of that stuff. It’s the animals that we have that were my concern.”
For now, she's dealing with the insurance and the police reports. However, she wants people to remember that lighting off fireworks can carry consequences.
“It’s not worth it, because you could ruin somebody’s life," Prendergast said. "You could take a life. You could destroy somebody’s property.”
“We don’t want to end up like Paradise or some of these big huge fires that take out entire cities," she added. "It’s just not worth it for some light in the sky.”
(Editor's Note: This story has been edited to add comment from Prendergast's neighbor and clarifying what types of fireworks are illegal in California.)
