FORT WORTH — Dry conditions, wind and triple-digit temperatures contributed to a sharp influx of fire-related calls in Fort Worth over the July Fourth weekend, including at the city’s fireworks show that had to be canceled after a grass fire broke out, Fort Worth Fire Department Chief Jim Davis said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The show, dubbed Fort Worth’s Fourth, was expected to be the largest fireworks show in North Texas. Davis said grass fires broke out along the bank of the Trinity River about six or seven minutes after the show began about 9:30 p.m. at Panther Island Pavilion.
According to Davis, the company hosting the show, Magic in the Sky, is responsible for those small fires.
“They are expected and they are normal,” Davis said. “They have a water cannon to put those out, and that is a normal process.”
But on Monday night, Davis said the grass fires developed at a “much faster pace” and that Magic in the Sky needed help from firefighters who were onsite. Davis said when firefighters arrived there were more than 1,000 fireworks shells that had not been shot off, which could have been a public safety hazard, Davis said.
“Our first priority was not the grass fires along the river,” he said. “The first priority was to put people at the site where the remaining shells were to try to protect them.”
After the fires were extinguished, Davis said fire marshals and Magic in the Sky operators inspected the fireworks mortars and found that some had melted or were damaged, which led to the decision to stop the show.
“There was a joint decision that was made last night between the fire marshal on the scene and the operator of the fireworks to jointly stop the shoot out of an abundance of caution,” Davis said.
The Tarrant Regional Water District prepared the fireworks site ahead of the show by watering and trimming the grass to prevent dry patches, Davis said. Davis said there is no indication or concern that there will be any negligence suits filed against Magic in the Sky.
The department responded to about 1,155 calls about fires on Monday, 250 of which were grass fires caused by illegal fireworks throughout the city, Davis said. Fireworks are illegal in Fort Worth but permitted in other parts of Tarrant County.
The calls about grass fires had to be triaged, according to Davis, meaning that dispatchers had to ask more questions about where the fire had started or if there were any structures surrounding the fire in order to prioritize responses from the department.
Davis said the department has been urging residents to take extra precautions to prevent such grass fires in the future, even after the holiday. Weather wise, there is “no relief in site,” according to Davis.
“It doesn’t take fireworks, it can be any misuse of a heating element,” he said. “We ask the public to try to keep their grass down and mowed and not let a lot of foliage develop around the properties. Those are the type of things that help us and give us a competitive advantage when trying to mitigate the emergency.”
North Texas is expected to see triple-digit temperatures throughout the rest of the week.
