Comal County fire officials wrote a handful of tickets on Independence Day, but the weekend brought just one grass fire report.
“We call that a great success,” Fire Marshal Wayne Ellington said Monday. “Especially compared to New Year’s Eve, it went really well.”
Area fire crews battled more than 60 brush fires from the evening of Dec. 31 to the early morning hours of Jan. 21, when the Keetch Byram Drought Index actually was lower — less dangerous — than its present reading of more than 700. The highest possible reading is 800.
The drought caused both Comal and Guadalupe county officials to recently declare states of emergency and ban the use and sale of all consumer fireworks in anticipation of Fourth of July celebrations.
The fireworks ban had been extended through Sunday after some political maneuvering.
More than 10 Texas counties received drought-related disaster extensions from Gov. Rick Perry’s office to have the ban stretch through the holiday. Comal and Guadalupe counties had to petition Perry a second time to have the ban last until Sunday since the governor’s extensions originally were
slated to expire on midnight July 4 — the first day of the holiday weekend.
Illegal fireworks probably sparked the small grassfire Friday night near the intersection of Farm-to-Market 306 and Caribou Drive, Ellington said, but a homeowner managed to contain the flames before Spring Branch crews arrived.
“I was amazed on the Fourth of July,” said Canyon Lake Fire/EMS Chief Jeff Schultz. “As far as tourism on the river, we even had less alcohol-related (emergencies) than we’ve had in the past, especially considering the amount of people in town.”
Officials with local law enforcement agencies said they experienced the same.
The Comal County Sheriff’s Office and the New Braunfels Police Department wrote a combined 336 citations, including one for fireworks, during the weekend and made a total of 62 arrests.
The majority of people — 190 — were ticketed for parking and traffic violations.
“It was almost like a normal weekend,” police spokesman Mike Penshorn said.
