Published: July 08, 2008 09:20 am         

Holiday weekend saw lots of people, activities and arrests, officials say

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

Law enforcement officials reported making several arrests - primarily alcohol-related -over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

“There were really no major crashes involving injury but a lot of driving while intoxicated arrests,” remarked Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Dudley. “It was, I'd say, a pretty typical weekend [for the holiday].”

“There was plenty of people out,” agreed Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer, concurring that his department didn't see any “major incidences. Just a lot of arrests - disorderly conduct, boating while intoxicated, public intoxication, possession of marijuana. The jail was pretty full.”

Mercer added, “For the most part, everything was good. A lot of traffic, a lot of people.”

The area volunteer fire departments experienced a quiet weekend as well, according to fire officials. Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Chief Steve Perdue said they had four trucks out to patrol for fires but only extinguished one small grassfire.

“It was real quiet for us,” agreed Charlie Sims, fire chief at Lone Camp Volunteer Fire Department. “We set out at the marina boat ramp at Lake Palo Pinto. We put out two or three small grassfires from fireworks.”

“Each department had a few. Nothing amounted to much,” said Barry Gill, Palo Pinto County Fire Marshall. “We were really lucky. I just hope we stay that way.”

He said with the new burn ban passed Thursday, “it pretty well cut out everything but cooking fires.”

Monday afternoon saw volunteer firefighters from Gordon, Lone Camp and Palo Pinto responding to a fire west of Palo Pinto around Dodson Prairie around 4 p.m. Gill explained a welder started a grassfire.

“He met all the requirements but it just got away from him,” he said. The fire burned approximately two acres of open pasture.