The day after the Fourth of July; Montana Vista cleanup

Another 4th of July holiday has come and gone and once again residents living outside the El Paso city limits are having to pick up all the trash left behind.

Out in Montana Vista some lots were littered with trash, everything from beer bottles to boxes of used fireworks.

ABC-7 spoke with Ryan Urrutia, Commander of the Patrol Bureau with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

He says 15 deputies and 25 inmates from the El Paso County jail were out at around 6 a.m. Thursday picking up trash along Montana.

Urrutia says they were only able to clean up areas along the highway and that they couldn’t go into lots that are privately owned.

A lot of those lots were littered with trash.

“Unfortunately it’s going to remain like this,” Urrutia said. “And on a day like today that we have wind the trash is going to go into neighbors and other businesses.”

But some property owners were prepared, like Cesar Ruiz who owns a tire shop off of Montana.

Ruiz says he rented a dumpster and stayed the night at his business making sure that those who were popping fireworks near his shop, picked up their trash.

“Right at midnight right when everything was ending I made them pick up their trash,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz did say that not everyone he asked to pick up their trash was willing at first.

“After their done, they just wanted to leave their trash there,” Ruiz said. “I just went around and told people to pick up their trash, and yeah they got pissed, but I don’t care.”

Ruiz says everyone he asked to pick their trash at the end of the day did just that.