KILLEEN, Texas — The Killeen Fire Department responded to more than two dozen fires due to illegal fireworks on July 4, according to a news release from the city.
The calls included a fire on the Stillhouse Bridge. KFD was one of several fire departments that responded. The Bell County Fire Marshal confirmed the fire was determined to be fireworks related.
The City of Killeen released the following information on the number of fires to which they responded.
Killeen Fire Department responded to the following fires between 7 p.m. July 4 to 1 a.m. July 5:
- 21 grass fires due to fireworks
- 1 dumpster fire due to fireworks
- 1 fence secondary to grass fire due to fireworks
- 1 grass fire due to fireworks with burned house trim
- Mutual aid response to Stillhouse Bridge and Williamson County-Florence Fire
- More than 95 verbal warnings to people using firework
- 56 citizen contacts
- 13 citations/summons issued
- More than 100 confiscated fireworks
Killeen Fire Chief James Kubinski says there could have been more citations given out.
"You have to have somebody with the firework in hand, most of the fireworks we see are on the ground out in front of a house or in the street," he explained. "So, that's where the 56 contacts came in play where we couldn't verify with 100 percent surety that the person we were talking to actually was in possession of the fireworks."
Kubinski says the good news was that no injuries were reported or structures damaged due to fireworks.
Bell County fire departments saw a notable increase in calls over the Independence Day weekend, according to a news release from Bell County Fire Marshal Chris Mahlstedt.
Bell County Fire Marshal's Office responded to 49 grass fires, 19 were confirmed to be fireworks related from July 1 to July 4. Out of the 49 grass fires, 37 happened on July 4 alone; 15 of which were confirmed to be fireworks related.
According to Bell County, there were more than 600 calls to 911 made throughout the county from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. That number is double the number of calls on a normal shift. Around 450 of those calls came in from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
No homes were damaged in Killeen but there were nearly two dozen grass fires and one fence that caught on fire, according to the news release.
Meanwhile in McLennan County, it was a rather quiet Fourth of July for fire departments.
Lt. Keith Guillory with Waco Police Department says there were very few fireworks related incidents occurred in Waco over the Fourth of July. The department responded to 3 trash fires, 2 small grass fires and 1 incident that involved 2 sheds, 2 fences and a van burned.
Guillory can't confirm if the incidents were due to fireworks at this time.
He says there was a small amount of fireworks confiscated compared to past years. No citations were issued to citizens.
"We believe this was due to a number of factors: citizens understanding the dry conditions, fireworks stands being closed due to the county ban, and the collective message from city departments," Guillory told 6 News.
McLennan County banned all fireworks in the county, while Bell County partially lifted their ban allowing for fireworks except for stick rockets and missiles.