Firefighters and residents work to extinguish bushes burning in the 3500 block of South Quintero Street July 4, 2026. PHOTO VIA AURORA FIRE RESCUE. 
Firefighters and residents work to extinguish bushes burning in the 3500 block of South Quintero Street July 4, 2026. PHOTO VIA AURORA FIRE RESCUE. 
Firefighters and residents work to extinguish bushes burning in the 3500 block of South Quintero Street July 4, 2026. PHOTO VIA AURORA FIRE RESCUE. 
Firefighters extinguished an outside vegetation fire that spread to the side of home in the 900 block of Lansing St. July 4, 2026. PHOTO VIA AURORA FIRE RESCUE.
AURORA | Despite a last-minute decision by Aurora officials to prohibit all consumer fireworks before the Fourth of July holiday, Aurora Fire Rescue responded to dozens of fires and complaints tied to fireworks over the holiday, including two blazes that spread to homes, according to preliminary figures released Sunday.
Between 8 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday, the department responded to 218 incidents, including 26 fire calls. Firefighters handled 10 vegetation fires, eight dumpster or trash fires and five reported fires that crews were unable to locate, Aurora Fire Rescue officials said in a social media post.
Fire officials said all of the fires were caused or probably caused by fireworks, except for one dumpster fire whose cause could not be determined.
Two outside fires spread to the sides of homes late Saturday night. One occurred about 11:15 p.m. in the 900 block of North Lansing Street, and the other about 11:40 p.m. in the 16500 block of East Harvard Avenue.
No injuries were reported in either fire.
During the holiday, an adult man suffered minor injuries from a firework and was taken to a hospital. No fire resulted from that incident, officials said.
The fires came one day after Aurora abruptly reversed course and imposed Stage 2 fire restrictions, banning the sale and use of all consumer fireworks after previously planning to allow limited ground-based fireworks during the holiday.
City officials announced Friday at about noon that worsening wildfire conditions across Colorado, combined with reduced availability of firefighting resources because of deployments to large fires elsewhere in the state and western United States, made the stricter restrictions necessary.
“We really tried to allow people to be able to celebrate the 4th of July responsibly with legal fireworks, but the elevated restrictions are necessary given the totality of circumstances this fire season,” Aurora Fire Chief Alec Oughton said Friday.
While consumer fireworks were prohibited, the city’s professional Fourth of July fireworks display proceeded as planned under enhanced fire-safety measures.
The response totals are preliminary and could be updated by the department, officials said.