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First the bash, then the trash Mail Tribune /Steve Johnson Independence Day meant extra work Wednesday for the crew at Crater Iron, who had to clean up by debris left by Tuesday�s July 4 revelers. Crater Iron, on South Pacific Highway, is near Crater High, site of the city�s July 4 fireworks display. Cleaning up the debris has become a July 5 tradition From staff reports Crater Iron employees say they spent about 60 hours last week spraying down, sweeping and cleaning the covered work area outside the South Pacific Highway business. So they were less than pleased to arrive to work Wednesday morning to find the space covered in trash from Fourth of July celebrations. "It�s like common respect for people�s property," says John Williams, the company�s general manager. "You want people to say, �I made this mess, I�ll clean it up.� " Instead, the employees who took advantage of a slow period at the fabrication shop to clean the work space last week got to tackle a new mess. In the past, Williams said the company has had windows broken out and trash left. There were plenty of trash and noise complaints, but no serious fireworks accidents on the Fourth of July, according to local police and fire. One observer of the Ashland fireworks, Fred Harrison of Central Point, said he�s done going to the city�s display. Harrison has watched the fireworks from Walker Elementary School with his family on and off since 1977. "The last few years it�s gotten worse and worse," said Harrison. He said he saw illegal and dangerous fireworks � like bottle rockets and exploding items � spoil the fun. Not to mention the carelessness he said he witnessed. "We had kids throwing fireworks right ahead of cars coming down the road, and we had other people that were throwing fireworks at each other," said Harrison. One difference Harrison said he noticed was the absence of police. "We used to see the police patrol these things on a regular basis," he said. In Medford, selling, possessing and setting off fireworks is illegal. Despite that broad prohibition, only one person was cited for setting off fireworks, according to police. From June 23 to early July 5, Medford police took 124 fireworks- or noise-related calls. Fireworks are a "very low priority call compared to all the other things we have to deal with," said Medford police Lt. Tim George. Holiday weekends usually bring an increase in high-priority calls like disturbances, domestic-violence and traffic problems, he said. Most often, officers don�t have time to track down where the loud noises originated or who was lighting fireworks, George said. The Medford Fire Department had a busy Fourth, handling 27 calls. The majority, however, were medical calls and none appear to be fireworks related, fire Lt. Larry Anderson says. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA