BARTLETT, Tenn. — Ahead of Fourth of July celebrations, fire departments across Shelby County are reminding people that the sale or use of personal fireworks is not allowed.
While they issue similar warnings every year, the recent storms have left the Midsouth covered in dry wood and debris.
Bartlett in particular, according to residents and fire officials, might as well be a tinderbox ready to ignite.
“It might get a little scary this year with lots of piles of trees,” said resident Samantha Schramm. “There's piles of trees and leaves and stuff everywhere.”
Schramm said a bolt of lightning brought a giant tree down in front of her home on Summer Avenue.
“It hit our powerlines, was covering part of I-70 and we couldn’t get in or out of our driveway for quite a few days,” she said.
Monday, all the wood from the tree was sitting in a pile in her front yard. And it was the same all over the city.
“We’ve had a rough week with the recent windstorms,” Bartlett Fire Chief Tommy Gately said. “We have a lot of debris on pretty much every street corner.”
One house on Ellenview Cove had at least three full-sized trees piled up in a huge mound of dry wood in the front yard.
Some of the worst damage was on Broadway Road. With so many fallen trees, resident Billy Sharp worried even a small flame could easily blaze out of control.
“I have trees down still here in my yard, dead leaves, and they would burn and would get to the house,” he said. “Not just mine, but there's others here.”
The Bartlett Fire Department said they have already put in extra hours responding to the city's storm damage and ask residents to celebrate the holiday without creating unnecessary risks for themselves or their neighbors.