Fire along American River Parkway leads to arrest and another cautionary fireworks tale

An arrest has been made and fireworks blamed after a weekend fire along the American River Parkway, according to a Metro Fire of Sacramento Twitter post.

A youth is suspected of lighting a legal firework and throwing it in the air Saturday night, starting a grass fire, Capt. Parker Wilbourn said. It grew to about 50-by-100 feet.

After an arson investigation, the youth was arrested and released with a citation Sunday.

A bystander or other passerby likely called authorities, Wilbourn said, and the fire was put out within 30 minutes.

“We want to encourage our community to be safe this Fourth of July,” he said. “We will be increasing staffing in the entire county to accommodate for the increase in activity.”