Thursday marked a unique day for the Town of Morrisville. Thousands of people were expected to attend the annual ‘Red, White & Boom’ event, making it the busiest event of the year.

While crowds headed to Cedar Fork District Park to get a view of fireworks while shopping local vendors, first responders stressed the importance of staying safe in the extreme heat.

Fire Chief Thomas Dooley noted the dangers of prolonged heat exposure without constant hydration and cooling breaks.

“Heat exhaustion, fainting, nausea, lightheaded, rapid pulse, cool, clammy skin, sweating profusely are usually your signs for heat exhaustion,» Dooley said.

Medical tents, misters, water stations, safety bike patrol and cooling areas were put in place to ensure safety throughout the night.

“We’ll have four members of our bike team there– our first response team that’ll be on site,» Chief Dooley said, ahead of the event.

The chief told WRAL the town pushed the message of hydration to event staff and vendors days before the event even started.

Little Halos was one of the vendors on site who took on the heat with cold treats. Owner Madison Nygard expected a busy night of fresh lemonade and ice cream orders as temperatures climbed.

“I’ve been doing this for four
years so being able to kinda like keep coming to all these events and being with
everybody is what I love the most,» said Nygard.

A fireworks show is set to start after nightfall, or around 9 p.m.



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