Probationers, prisoners cleanup fireworks trash in Montana Vista

County Judge Veronica Escobar said traffic was the number one problem encountered in the Montana Vista area this Fourth of July weekend.

“I kept hearing traffic was just terrible and its very, very hard on neighbors, it’s very difficult for them to get in and get out of their homes, out of their neighborhoods, so it poses a significant nuisance for people who live out there,” Escobar said.

For the first time in five years, the county allowed the sale and use of fireworks in unincorporated areas. El Paso’s drought index did not warrant a fireworks ban, county officials said.

Escobar acknowledged traffic wasn’t as bad as it was in the past, most likely, because people lit fireworks over the three-day weekend. The county judge also said there was a heavy law enforcement presence, more widespread than ever before.

“It wasn’t concentrated on just the Fourth of July so that may be why the 4th was not as chaotic as it had been in prior years,” Escobar said, “But the flip side of that was there was garbage three days in a row.”

Monday morning, the county’s graffiti removal team was in Montana Vista with people on probation. Sheriff’s deputies also brought prisoners to help with the cleanup. County officials estimate it will take about three days to cleanup the trash left behind.

Chris Lightbourn shot fireworks in the colonia Sunday night. Lightbourn, who returned Monday morning to help with the cleanup, described Sunday night’s scene as chaotic. “It looked like a war zone, a lot of cop cars, ambulances everywhere, it was pretty scary at one point really.”

“It would help if they would bring a trash bag and take their trash with them because people don’t go in the city and leave the trash in front of their homes,” Sergio Apodaca, a Montana Vista resident, said Monday.

The Montana Vista Volunteer Fire Department told ABC-7 its volunteers received 11 calls for assistance Sunday night and 24 calls Monday night. The department’s chief, Roland Glidden, told ABC-7 that was minor compared to the estimated 200 calls they received the last time fireworks were allowed in the county in 2011.