SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco emergency departments and first responders experienced a sharp increase in serious injuries over the Fourth of July weekend, with illegal fireworks and electric scooter crashes contributing to some of the busiest days in recent years.

At Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, medical teams treated a wave of patients suffering severe trauma. In one incident, bystanders rushed to help a person who was bleeding heavily after a hand injury. A 911 dispatcher described the call as “Extreme Trauma. Hand injury.”

Dr. Christopher Colwell, chief of emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, said surgeons worked to treat patients with devastating injuries.

“We are able to do a lot with and sometimes save the function of the hand and eye. Unfortunately, there are injuries that exist every year where we are not able to do that even with the expertise that we have,” Colwell said.

MORE: SF police in riot gear crack down on 4th of July illegal fireworks shows: ‘It was crazy’

According to Dr. Colwell, four people lost eyes, five lost hands and at least 15 people suffered serious injuries related to electric scooters over the weekend.

“We saw a lot of electric scooter accidents. And I think part of it was that their traffic was such that that was a more efficient way of getting around town. But we also learned very clearly that the combination of electric scooters and how fast you can go in San Francisco, particularly going downhill along with not wearing a helmet and adding alcohol on board, is a really bad combination,” Colwell said.

ABC7’s data team reviewed San Francisco EMT data and found that medical incidents on July 4 and July 5 were about double the number reported during the same period in 2025.

Lt. Mariano Elias of the San Francisco Fire Department said emergency crews handled significantly more calls than usual.

“We had almost 200 more calls than we normally have so we had roughly 576 calls in a 24-hour period,” Elias said.

MORE: Over 400 people arrested during chaos at Newport Beach July 4th celebrations, police say

Illegal fireworks activity also sparked fires across the city. Firefighters responded to Telegraph Hill, where crews quickly contained a blaze.

“We did have two house fires that night on the 4th of July, due to fireworks activities,” Elias said.

City officials estimated that more than 100,000 people were in San Francisco to watch Fourth of July fireworks, creating traffic congestion that complicated ambulance response efforts.

“All the gridlock between, people coming and going from, the Golden Gate Bridge. The city was very impacted on the streets. So that was an issue. The one particular ambulance did, involve themselves in an accident. So, someone hit the ambulance. So that patient had to be transported and moved to a different ambulance,” Elias said.

First responders warned that illegal fireworks activity typically continues for days after the Fourth of July and urged the public not to take unnecessary risks.

DENVER (KKTV) – Colorado firefighters prevented a fire from spreading to a home in Denver late Monday afternoon after it fully engulfed a power pole and destroyed most of a detached garage.

Adams County Fire Rescue said crews responded to a house fire in the 8300 block of Nueva Vista Drive, near Coronado Hills Elementary School, around 5 p.m.

Firefighters said when crews arrived, they saw heavy smoke from behind the home in a detached garage, as well as a fully engulfed power pole.

The incident was soon upgraded to a second-alarm fire, firefighters said.

The fire destroyed most of the detached garage, part of a shed as well as nearby fences and vehicles, firefighters said. The fire did not spread to the actual home.

The residents of the home had evacuated the area when firefighters arrived, and crews helped evacuate the four surrounding homes, firefighters said.

Firefighters said Xcel Energy crews were called to shut off the power lines in the area.

Firefighters said there were no injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation as of Tuesday morning.