(July 3, 2009)

CALALLEN--There's a ban of fireworks in the city limits of Corpus Christi. That forces many locals to go light up fireworks in the county, but some Northwest residents are concerned it could lead to problems out there.

There is an aerial ban of fireworks in Nueces County. While officers and firefighters police fireworks the best they can, it can be stressful for county residents living in the Calallen area.

Cheri Tips is a twenty year Calallen resident living near County Road 73 and every year her neighborhood turns into a warzone.

"Pretty much its six to eight hours continuous every three seconds of large fireworks because a lot of people have the money to buy the big fireworks," said Tips. 

This year is the third driest year on record for Nueces County. That alone raises a red flag for possible grass fires and evacuations.

"There's no way to evacuate their pets," Tips said. "Many of us live on dead end roads, dead end county roads. If a major fire started above us, we could not get out."

An aerial fireworks ban will help firefighters this year, but they have some advice for residents who don't live in the area and plan to go out there.

"Fireworks are just like guns," said Chief Michael Clack of the Annaville Volunteer Fire Department. "You are not allowed to shoot that stuff off on county roads or public access points. So the only place you can go if they have somebody they know then they can go to their property and do it."

Volunteer fire stations in Annaville will be fully manned with eleven fire trucks ready for action, including this quick attack rig.

"We've also put a quick attack rig on the back of one of our pickups," Chief Clack said. "That way we can get it out to one of the incidents quickly and keep the other equipment available for other fires."

For the New Year's Holiday, there were zero fires related to fireworks, according to firefighters in this area. But this time around, the conditions are a lot different and they're hoping for the same result for the 4th of July.

While I am hoping for grey matter to prevail, but it usually doesn't on a Saturday night where everybody is having drinks and they have bought their fireworks," Tips said. 

But firefighters believe the public will follow their warnings and are hoping for a safe Fourth of July.

--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com