Grass fire destroys six structures
Grass fire destroys six structures
27 April 2011
published by www.myplainview.com
USA — Six structures were destroyed in a large grass fire that consumed almost 450 acres about seven miles northwest of here Tuesday evening.
Ronald Groves, chief of the Hale Center Volunteer Fire Department which assisted firefighters from Petersburg and Abernathy, said two abandoned houses, three barns, a well house and a tractor were destroyed in the blaze that started near the intersection of FM 400 and County Road 275. Fueled by dry conditions and high winds, the fire spread some two miles east to near County Road Z.
Groves said the Hale Center department got a call for mutual aid from Petersburg about 5:15 p.m. He said they battled the blaze for more than three hours.
“It was awful,” Groves said.
Kelly Vandygriff of the Abernathy Volunteer Fire Department did not believe that any occupied houses were threatened.
Groves said the fire began on the edge of a roadway and could have been started by “any number of things. There’s really no way to know what started it.”
Gary McCormick of Rocket Aviation said Plainview saw sustained winds Tuesday of 40 mph with a high gust of 52 mph at 2:26 p.m.
