Thousands show up for Firefighters Freedom Festival in Madison County

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Madison County residents turned out to McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport Wednesday night to celebrate America’s 242nd birthday.

“Had a few showers come through early that actually cooled down the outside temperatures, so it made it a lot more comfortable,” Madison County Fire Chief Eric Turner said.

But as night turned to day, the Madison County Fire Department was back at the airport cleaning up.

“We were able to get the whole show in, entertainment played till the end of the night, we shot the fireworks and everybody got out of the parking lot before the rain came down,” Chief Turner said.

Thursday morning, the field beside McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport was quiet and empty, but Chief Turner says Wednesday night more than 10,000 people came out to the Firefighters Freedom Festival to watch those fireworks.

“We’re still working on those numbers, getting some vehicle counts and those kinds of things, but we’re estimating well over 10,000 people this year,” Chief Turner said.

He says they took notes of what worked, what didn’t and how they can improve for next year.

“We do that while it’s fresh on our minds, and then we’ll sit at the table in about a week or so, digest it all and start making plans for next year,” Chief Turner said.

No tax dollars are used to pay for the Firefighters Freedom Festival. Chief Turner says they are funded by businesses in Jackson and Madison County.

“As long as we keep getting those funds, we plan to keep on doing it,” he said.

Investigators with the fire department were trained at a pyrotechnic school and started running the show by themselves last year.