Fire Burns 63 Acres Near County Line

The Amaze fire near the Fayette-Bastrop County Line burned about 63 acres Tuesday, Aug. 15. The fire started just before 5 p.m. along State Highway 71 in Kirtley.

Firefighters from La Grange, Smithville, Bastrop, Heart of the Pines Fire Department and Muldoon along with the Texas Forest Service worked into the evening hours to bring the fire under control. La Grange Volunteer Fire Department returned around 5:30 a.m. and again at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning to extinguish some spots that rekindled.

A worker on the property told the Record he was baling corn shucks in a field north of the highway when a bearing failed on his hay baler. The hot bearing ignited the dry corn litter and started the field on fire. The worker was able to save the tractor and baler, but he lost about 25 bales in the fire.

A light north wind pushed the flames towards Hwy. 71 and the train tracks that run alongside the highway. Fire officials shut down traffic on the highway and the train tracks for several hours while they battled the blaze.

“From the point where the fire started, it spread south and west,” said La Grange Fire Chief Frank Menefee. “We got on the flanks and started putting it out, but the fire was kicking back up behind us after we went over it. Once we got that control, we worked the brush line around the railroad tracks. We basically threw everything we had at it.”

The fire jumped the railroad tracks and started burning in the ditch north of SH 71. At one point, the fire jumped the westbound lanes of the highway and started burning in the median, but firefighters quickly extinguished it before it spread south of the highway.

The Texas Interstate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) also responded. Menefee said the TIFMAS team stayed on scene until around midnight to monitor the fire. Officials from the Texas Forest Service returned to the scene Wednesday to mop up any smoldering remnants.

Menefee said a total of 62 firefighters from various agencies assisted on Tuesday. There were about 24 fire trucks on scene Tuesday as well. Officers from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety handled traffic control on the highway during the duration of the fire. Fayette County EMS responded in case any firefighters got overheated. There were no reported injuries. The EMS personnel also brought drinking water for the firefighters.

“We had overwhelming support from the EMS, Sheriff’s Office and the DPS,” Menefee said.