LITTLE RIVER-ACADEMY, Texas — The town of Little River-Academy is in its second week without a volunteer fire department. According to Mayor Drew Lanham, the city is being watched over by four other cities' fire departments: Rogers, Holland, Troy and Salado.
But with the Fourth of July coming up Thursday, the risk for a fire from a rogue firework is higher.
"They said 'Without a doubt we would cover. No problem in the interim,'" Bell County Commissioner Russell Schneider said.
Schneider said he asked the neighboring departments for help before the dissolve because the Little River-Academy Volunteer Fire Department hadn't met county requirements.
Although the cities don't look close on a map, Schneider said they actually neighbor Little River-Academy's fire district.
"All four of those departments that are taking over actually ajoin the area that Little River Volunteer Fire Department was covering," he said.
The four departments will be fighting Little River-Academy area fires until a new department is established.
Mayor Drew Lanham said he isn't worried because even though the departments aren't in his city, he knows they've got it covered.
"I think we are going to be okay," Lanham said. "With the amount of rain and as green as everything is I don't... I think we will be alright."
Schneider said there will be a property hearing at 2 p.m. on July 23 to discuss who gets the equipment from the dissolved fire department.