'Great environment': People pack weekend Fourth of July fireworks shows despite the heat

WENDELL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Dangerously hot temperatures weren't enough to stop people from attending Fourth of July celebrations on Sunday night.

A fireworks show and Fourth of July celebration kicked off in Wendell Town Park, with areas reduced to standing-room-only. Rainy Dew made the trip up from Johnston County and said the heat wasn't stopping her and her friends.

"The Fourth of July's a holiday that everybody comes to, hot or cold. It's always hot. The rain, not so much. But the heat's alright," Dew said.

Donnelle Hinton brought his son from Cary and agreed with that sentiment.

"Yeah this is nice out here, it's a great environment, they should do this every year, this is our first time coming. But I'm loving it so far, man," Hinton said.

Despite the crowd's optimism, fire battalion chief John Underhill said safety precautions had been taken in advance, given the triple-digit heat index values.

"We have EMS on standby, we also have fire department personnel on standby just in case something like that happens. And we also have some cooling stations in the area, that people can cool down," Underhill said.

Smithfield also held its fireworks celebration on Sunday night, and Apex and Morrisville will hold theirs on Monday. On Tuesday, ABC11 is a sponsor of the fireworks show at Dix Park in Raleigh.

The hot temperatures are expected to last through at least the first half of this week.