By KRWG News
Las Cruces – DWI arrests over the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend increased slightly from 2009 while the police and fire departments kept busy responding to several fireworks-related calls.
This past holiday weekend, from Friday through Monday, the Las Cruces police arrested seven motorists on charges of driving while intoxicated. In 2009, LCPD recorded six such arrests over the same four day period surrounding July 4.
Independence Day was on a Sunday this year and on a Saturday in 2009.
No major vehicle crashes were reported over the holiday weekend in Las Cruces.
Also this holiday weekend Las Cruces firefighters, police and Codes Enforcement officers responded to 142 calls or complaints related to the use of fireworks. The fire department confiscated 89 pounds of illegal fireworks while police and Codes Enforcement officers seized 41 pounds.
No major fires or injuries were attributed to incidents involving fireworks in Las Cruces. However, Las Cruces firefighters responded to at least eight small fires that were believed to have been caused by the use of fireworks. Those calls ranged from dumpster and brush fires, to one blaze that damaged landscaping that was between two structures.