'The beach looks awesome.' July Fourth trash hauled off Volusia County beaches

Patricio G. Balona
·3 min read

DAYTONA BEACH – A walk on the beach near Sun Splash Park before sunrise Tuesday showed trash that included empty beer cans, beach towels, food waste, fireworks debris and even a barbecue grill left in the sand by party revelers celebrating July Fourth the night before.

Big holes were also visible in the sand.

Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue officials said they stopped as many people as they were able to from shooting off fireworks but a lot more people fired off their pyrotechnics anyway, leaving behind their trash.

A trash can overflowing with used Roman candles tubes, sparkler wires and other fireworks packaging, Tuesday morning, July 5, 2022, as early morning beachgoers wait for the sunrise at The Granada Beach ramp.
A trash can overflowing with used Roman candles tubes, sparkler wires and other fireworks packaging, Tuesday morning, July 5, 2022, as early morning beachgoers wait for the sunrise at The Granada Beach ramp.

Independence Day, fireworks displays on the beach

"We made contact with 1,336 people on Monday night and asked them to cease setting off fireworks," said Ocean Rescue Sgt. Jason Legath on Tuesday. "Most of them were compliant and either left the beach or did not continue shooting off fireworks."

More: Fourth of July beachgoers leave behind tons of fireworks trash, complaints

More: Picking up the pieces

But what he estimated to be a higher number of people still celebrated Independence Day on the beach with their own fireworks displays, Legath said.

"I worked the beach last night and after midnight there was visible trash in the sand and overflowing trash cans with fireworks debris," Legath said. "The amount of trash generated from last night is far more substantial than everyday trash."

A CFB Outdoors employee empties trash cans in front of the boardwalk, Tuesday morning, July 5, 2022, as crews and volunteers pick up the discarded fireworks and other trash left after the July Fourth celebration.
A CFB Outdoors employee empties trash cans in front of the boardwalk, Tuesday morning, July 5, 2022, as crews and volunteers pick up the discarded fireworks and other trash left after the July Fourth celebration.

Volunteers on the beach

Volunteers were out early on Tuesday helping to clean up the beach.

At 5:30 a.m., Warren Oldroyd, of Daytona, was picking up trash near Sun Splash Park.

Oldroyd said he picks up trash on the beach everyday but on Tuesday there was a lot more garbage.

"I've seen a lot of fireworks trash, a lot of clothes, a lot of beer cans and beer bottles," Oldroyd said. "I've also been filling holes."

Daytona Beach resident Warren Oldroyd, a volunteer picking up trash left by July 4 party-goers, finds a beach chair and grill left on the sand near Sun Splash Park in Daytona Beach.
Daytona Beach resident Warren Oldroyd, a volunteer picking up trash left by July 4 party-goers, finds a beach chair and grill left on the sand near Sun Splash Park in Daytona Beach.

Aware that July Fourth partygoers would gather on the beach and leave behind garbage, Volusia County officials contracted with Central Florida Bobcat of DeLand to pick trash off the beach.

Around 6 a.m. crews from CFB arrived with several small all-terrain vehicles fitted with large trash containers.

The workers picked up fireworks debris from the sand, and emptied trash containers. Trailers then hauled the trash to large metal trash bins that were stationed off the beach along Atlantic Avenue, Legath said.

CFB employees pick up trash in front of the boardwalk on Tuesday morning.
CFB employees pick up trash in front of the boardwalk on Tuesday morning.

Ben Hester, the owner of CFB Outdoors, could not immediately be reached on Tuesday.

'Kudos to them'

Beachgoers were happy to arrive to a clean beach on Tuesday, grateful to the volunteers and workers who got up early to come to the beach to pick up trash.

"The beach looks awesome. It looks great. Kudos to them," said Shawn Mayo, who was out walking on the beach.

Linda Crafton, of Daytona Beach, also arrived with her two friends to walk on the beach and said she felt good that she saw little to no garbage.

"We walk usually four days a week and we've never seen this many cleaning crew early in the morning," Crafton said. "It's good to see them all out here getting the job done."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: July Fourth fireworks debris, trash collected from Volusia beaches