Just another Fourth for emergency personnel

For the most part, it was a pretty typical Fourth of July for local emergency response personnel. There were no major incidents reported during the holiday.

"It was not too bad," Fort Scott Police Chief Travis Shelton said. "There were a lot of fireworks and folks out but we had no major issues. There were a few noise complaints later on in the night."

Shelton said the relatively quiet day for police - no reports of criminal acts - could be attributed to more patrol cars on city streets throughout the day.

"We wanted to have a presence by the college and fairgrounds area," he said, referring to the annual fireworks display at Fort Scott Community College. "There was a large public watching fireworks. Being seen and available is important."

Despite no major problems, Shelton said police fielded several calls for service from residents and also dealt with some traffic complaints and stops, noise complaints and reports to check vehicles.

Service calls can range from domestic issues to traffic stops and public assistance, Shelton said.

Shelton added he didn't see any reports of injuries or the use of illegal fireworks during the holiday.

Shelton said he keeps a normal staff on hand when the Fourth of July lands on a weekday.

"If the Fourth of July is during the week and we don't have too many issues I keep a regular staff," he said. "If it's on a weekend, we may bring in a couple extra officers."

Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou said the department responded to nine incidents Thursday, most of which were EMS and rescue calls and ambulance runs. He said there were only minimal calls related to the use of fireworks.

"There were a total of two and maybe three runs related to fireworks starting a fire, but nothing big," he said. "It was a busy day, but not because of the Fourth."

Ballou also said there were no injuries, building fires or other fires reported throughout the day. The fireworks calls involved small fires in dry spots, he said.

"It's usually someone shooting fireworks, and it's not real dry, like in some areas cut by a mower," Ballou said. "Those tend to dry out, so it's about hitting those dry spots."

Ballou said it was a "normal" Fourth of July for firefighters.

"Everybody had a good one," he said. "There were some fires that got started, but they called real quick and the fire department got out there. It was an average Fourth."

Ballou said he heard reports of a couple of grass fires out in the county Thursday.

It also was an average day for Mercy Hospital Fort Scott staff.

Mercy Hospital spokeswoman Tina Rockhold said after speaking with Dennis Fry, registered nurse who worked the day shift Thursday in the Mercy emergency room, that the Fourth of July was a "steady, normal day with no peaks or valleys" in the hospital's ER.

Fort Scott police responded to an incident that occurred at Gunn Park on Thursday and has city officials disappointed. Individuals who rented Shelter House No. 7 for the holiday apparently had a Fourth of July party and and left the shelter house littered with trash, fireworks debris, beer cans and other refuse.

"Citizens have got to understand, we've got to clean up this town," City Manager Dave Martin said Friday. "It's a total disregard; they just trashed the place."

Shelton said a littering complaint was filed with the city as the victim.

"It was quite substantial for city crews to clean up," he said.

Shelton said Friday police were in the process of issuing a citation to a Fort Scott woman who rented the shelter.

City Clerk Diane Clay said the city's fine for littering - a misdemeanor - is $100 and the offender will be given a date to appear in court.

Shelton said the citation was for littering only. No criminal damage was found.

The city ordinance states that "No person shall throw or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public place within the city except in public receptacles, in authorized private receptacles for collection or in official city dumps." The ordinance is the same concerning parks, adding that trash placed in public receptacles should be "in such amounts that the litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any part of the park or upon any street or other public place."