Fire in toledo apartments caused by illegal fireworks?

While I feel sorrow for those that lost their apartments, I wonder if this could have been prevented with a little police interaction.

Funny how every 4th of July, we hear about how fireworks are illegal. Last night I sat from my car and watched the fireworks downtown. I was near the entrance of the docks. At least 2 policemen were there watching traffic. While there, I watched so many fireworks get set off from houses nearby. Some were not further away than one house. All the time I watched, I never saw the police warn the people shooting off the fireworks, nor did I see them use their radio to call for backup to warn those people clearly breaking the law.

Now, if it is a law, why isn't anything done? I understand that enforcing the firework law is hard, but if we can't enforce it, why have the law in the first place?

If people were warned on a regular or semi-regular basis, maybe the apartments would still be there today.