Fireworks cleanup moving quickly after 4th of July holiday

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - While the nation’s birthday party continues on July 5th in Wolfforth, things are almost back to normal in Lubbock.

Crews stayed at Mackenzie Park until 2 a.m. Wednesday, cleaning up after the Fourth on Broadway celebration.

Katie Sandifer, executive director for Fourth on Broadway, says a ton of work goes into getting ready for one of the largest free festivals in Texas. The days after are no different.

“The parks department has been great. They’ve been out here all morning picking up all the trash from the evening concert. There’s quite a bit, but they’ve been so fast that most of it’s already gone,” Sandifer said.

Sandifer says cleanup at Mackenzie Park began as soon as the evening concert kicked off.

“And the fact that we were all here until about two last night, came back at eight, and we’ve been working for a week now with very little sleep. And we’re back here still pushing and chugging along as fast as we are is just incredible,” Sandifer said.

She says city street sweepers have taken care of most of the trash on the parade route down Broadway.

In the county, Judge Curtis Parrish says he’s not getting reports of more fireworks debris than usual that comes along with the holiday. County Commissioner Jordan Rackler says crews made 50 stops while picking up trash in precinct four.

While last night’s fireworks show was going on at Mackenzie Park, KCBD’s tower cam reveals several families decided to host their own, illegally, in their neighborhoods.

Lubbock police responded to nearly 600 calls for fireworks in the last five days. While you may have heard several popping while trying to sleep, that number is actually down from more than a thousand last year.

Lubbock firefighters issued 10 citations for fireworks over the last week and a half.

Sandifer says her team will start planning for next year’s Fourth on Broadway soon, in September.

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