FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF News) – The Fort Worth Fire Department wants residents to dispose of any unused fireworks properly.
Someone could get their hands on discarded fireworks, use them improperly and that could lead to a fire.
Firefighters responded to 70 grass fires within the city that were started by fireworks this past July 4th alone. Several of them were multiple alarm and covered almost 30 acres of land each.
The department’s Kyle Clay said residents should take a few simple steps before throwing their unused fireworks away.
“Dunk them in some water if you’ve got like a 5-gallon bucket. Let them soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Then, you should be able to throw them away without any problems,” he said.
Although the department hopes that most residents will get take these steps before tossing their fireworks…they’re well aware that some may choose to go outside the city to put their fireworks to good use.
Clay said he urges residents to think twice before doing that.
“If they go out of the area and start a grass fire…that’s potentially life threatening, they could potentially held liable civilly for any damages and there are just so many things that could happen,” he said.
The department received more than 2200 calls about fireworks on July 4th but Clay expects those numbers to die down over the weekend.
Copyright 2018. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
