Barbeque Pit Suspected Cause of Fire

A barbeque pit on a porch is believed to have sparked a fire Tuesday night that gutted a house at 4588 State Highway 159 across from Windy Hill Lane outside La Grange.

La Grange fire chief Frank Menefee said a 911 call came in at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday about the fire and by the time he arrived three-quarters of the front of the cabin-style home owned by Tony Van Wisse was already burning.

Firefighters from La Grange and Fayetteville battled the fire and Fayette County Sheriff’s Department and EMS were also at the scene.

Authorities did not clear the scene until 11:58 p.m.

That was one of a number of fires this week for the La Grange fire department.

Monday, about eight acres burned near the intersection of Munke Road and Bohuslav Road in the Ammannsville area when a trash fire was spread by the wind and caught an adjacent pasture on fire.

Wednesday carbon build up on a oil well flare off Morgan Road caught adjacent grass on fire and it spread to a brush pile.

The fire was quickly put out by the La Grange fire department but their truck got stuck in the mud.

That scene underscores the unusual situation Fayette County is facing. The ground is wet from recent rain, but dead vegetation frozen over the winter is still very dry, and a significant fire danger.