INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — A lot of people are looking for ways to dispose of their Christmas trees now that the holiday season has passed, but someone in Indian Rocks Beach may find themselves in hot water for their method of disposal.

According to the city, authorities arrived to the local beach after reports of a large fire around 12:15 a.m. on New Years Day. On scene, they found a large number of trees had been ignited in a container with some form of lighter fluid or gas to accelerate the burn.

“There was about 40 people gathered, a large number of teenagers and kids,” Indian Rocks City Manager Gregg Mims explained. “Mixing dry Christmas trees and gasoline in a milk jug just isn’t a good idea.”

He said the improper disposal is in violation of the city’s code, and the use of the fluid possibly violates State and Federal laws.

“We take this very seriously and we want it stopped,” Mims said. “We’ll take whatever steps we need to to do that.”

Tammy Haworth couldn’t believe the news.

She told 8 On Your Side, as a resident of Indian Rocks Beach, it was shocking to see someone have such a disregard for the environment.

“Shocking,” she described. “I can’t believe they would do that.”

“That’s very irresponsible,” she continued. “It could cause major damage, and protecting the environment is what we’re all about here.”

“I just don’t think it’s responsible for anybody to light something on fire in a public area for people to go to,” Haworth explained.

Indian Rocks Beach said it is treating this as a serious threat to the public and environment and is reviewing security cameras in an attempt to identify the person responsible.

“Our beach isn’t as big as it used to be,” Mims said. “With all the hurricane and issues with beach nourishment, our beach is pretty narrow.”

This comes after Hurricane Idalia battered Florida’s west coast, eroding sand dunes at many beaches throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Pinellas County alone just spent millions of dollars through an emergency beach restoration project, rebuilding dunes that environmental experts say fires could disrupt.

“People not aware of the circumstances burning too close to the dune and very new grass they’re growing so that’s not good,” USF School of Geosciences professor Ping Wang said.

Anyone with information is being asked to call (727) 595-2517.