Around 3:00am on New Year’s Day morning, while people are enjoying the holiday, fireworks sparked a brush fire on Harbor Island.
"We have fireworks displays every year and people popping fireworks.... and they caught the grass on fire, with it being a dry year last year," said Juan Jose Cruz, Aransas Pass Fire Department Senior Captain.
The blaze burned about 120 acres of land and took more than six hours to extinguish it. However, the Aransas Fire Department didn't do this alone.
“We probably had nine agencies here, probably 60-80 personnel," he said.
Firefighters from neighboring cities like Corpus Christi, Ingleside, Gregory, Port Aransas, Refugio, Bayside and others came to assist.
With their help, the fire was put out around 10:30 am and traffic was reopened on Highway 361 shortly after.
Firefighters at the scene did what they are trained to do, but now, they want neighbors to be aware of their surroundings and do what they are supposed to do: Use fireworks responsibly.
“When you pop fireworks, the direction the wind is blowing is where the ambers are blowing," he said. What you don’t want is the ambers to fly into any thick brush, wooded areas or even structures."
Firefighers will remain at the scene to monitor the area in case of the fire reigniting.
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