AMARILLO, TEXAS -- When the City of Amarillo said "bye-bye" to fireworks, the Amarillo Fire and Police Departments wanted to make sure all citizens were abiding by the bans.
Since the start of the Fire Department's firework amnesty program on June 14th, they received 41 request phone calls to come pick up fireworks or other explosives like ammunition.
"It was successful enough this year that their going to continue the program. They haven't ended it, so if you still have fireworks that you need picked up or if you have old ammunition, gun powder things like that, that you're ready to get rid of then you can call the Amnesty line and they'll come pick it up", said Amarillo Fire Department Captain Wes Hall.
But as usual, the July 4th holiday had both departments on high alert and even with the burn and firework bans, Amarillo PD still received several calls Monday night about people popping fireworks.
"Better than what we've seen in the past, but probably not as good as we would have liked to have seen. We probably had 75 to 100 just firework violation calls maybe because people were a little more attune to what's going on in their neighborhoods and they don't want their house to burn down or anybody to get hurt and so they were more willing to call", said Amarillo Police Department Corporal Jerry Neufeld.
Two arrests were made during the holiday weekend for Violation of Emergency Declaration Firework Ban and Possession of Fireworks Within City Limits. Despite the number of other calls that did come in, no major fire was caused.
"As far as July 4th goes, it was a little slower than normal", said Hall.
"We're fortunate that we didn't have a big major fire that came up through the July 4th", adds Neufeld.
Overall, the amnesty program and firework ban helped Amarillo citizens pass the test.
"I think without a doubt it helped", said Neufeld.
"I'd give them an A. You know, the citizens of Amarillo are great. They're very safety minded. They're looking out for their neighbors and they don't want anybody to get hurt and I think they did a great job" continues Hall.
Amarillo police say they did make two arrests over the weekend for fireworks violations.
26-year-old Mario Arreola was arrested for Deadly Conduct and for Violating the Firework Ban after police were called to a residence and found several packages of fireworks.
17-year-old Shane Putman was arrested on Saturday after he was seen shooting fireworks in the 1000 block of N. Adams and setting a field on fire.
The fire department was able to put the fire out.
