4th of July Firework Cleanup and Aftermath Across the Metro

Fire officials say your best bet with disposing of fireworks is to wait until they completely cool down before you throw them in a trash can. 

Community cleanup efforts in Mustang are underway the day after Independence Day. 

"I may not have shot off all of these but I am part of the community and I just wanted to come help out," volunteer Michelle Moore said. 

The City of Mustang designated Wild Horse Park as the place to be on the Fourth of July by allowing people to set off their own fireworks. 

"If I come out here and watch the show I might as well come out and help clean it up right?" Moore said. "Just grab a pair of work gloves, grab yourself a bucket, and come and do your part."  

The cleanup was well underway just after sunrise, hours after the fireworks had time to cool down. 

"That's just the number one mistake people make,” Scott Douglas with the Oklahoma City Fire Department said. “They pick up a hot firework and they put it in the trash."  

Douglas also said this mistake—among others—kept them busy overnight. 

"These fireworks travel long distances, and you don't know where they land,” he said. “But where they land, they're still hot and sometimes they're still putting out sparks." 

Those sparks can turn into flames. The OKCFD responded to 180 calls last night; 29 of them were dumpster fires caused by fireworks. Scott said that a big open lot like the one used in Mustang is a step in the right direction with fireworks. 

"Yes, hard surfaces and just leave them be,” Douglas explained. “Just let them cool." 

"People are going to shoot them off whether you tell them not to,” Michelle said. “Might as well give them the chance to do it."