Law enforcement officials around Sumner County experienced an explosive Independence Day weekend as reports of illegal fireworks, fires, and injury accidents shot in to emergency dispatch.
    Fireworks and fire were the name of the game for police and fire departments in Wellington.
    Chief John Lloyd of the Wellington Fire Department states three fires since the beginning of July 1 have been fireworks related — with two of the three occuring in fields of standing wheat.
    “That’s a huge problem,” said Lloyd.
    On July 4, illegal fireworks could be seen being shot throughout the city limits, said Lloyd, but there was little enforcement.
    “We just don’t have enough man power,” Lloyd said.
    Extra police and fire crews were on hand for the city sanctioned fireworks display to keep all in order.
    Standing at Worden Park, Lloyd says he could tell what was illegal by the size of the explosion, the sound of the launch, and how far in the air it went.
    One person was caught with illegal explosives after Lloyd discovered him shooting Class B artillery shells on his roof — just down the street from where the Fire Chief lives.
    “He was wetting down his roof when I asked him what he was doing...I then felt the need to introduce myself,” he said.
    Police were called in to investigate the case as criminal use of explosives.
    Lloyd said he’s heard from some City council members about the illegal fireworks and said the issue may come up at a future council meeting.
    Lloyd says getting rid of illegal fireworks is just a matter of time and manpower.
    “We just try to widdle them down the best we can,” he said.
    The Sumner County Sheriff’s Department received over 40 calls over the weekend, though Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey says it was all “a lot of little stuff” such as alarms, questions for officers and noise complaints.
     At 4:11 a.m., Saturday morning, in the 600 block of W. 130th St. a 1997 Jeep Cherokee driven by Josh Delain, 17, of Caldwell, left the roadway and rolled into a ditch, according to Gilkey. Delain told deputies he swerved to miss a deer. He suffered from minor head and shoulder injuries, according to the sheriff’s report.
    Another accident, this one involving a dirt bike, occured in the 1700 block of West 120th Street South in South Haven when Jesse Deason, 23, of Wellington, hit a parked pick-up shortly before 6 p.m., Friday evening.
    Gilkey says the owner of the Kawasaki bike, Allen Sandifer, told Deason to take it easy on the throttle because it was sensitive but the warning didn’t help as Deason — who stated he had years of experience on bikes — ended up at Sumner Regional Medical Center to receive treatment.