Muldoon VFD Responds to Control Burn

On Sunday, Feb. 6 at 1:10 p.m. the Muldoon Volunteer Fire Department was called to Three Mile Rd. for a grass fire.

A controlled burn got out of control and due to the recent freeze, the dried grass ignited easily and spread quickly. Muldoon Fire Chief Stephen Kelly called for assistance from Flatonia VFD and the Texas A&M Forest Service. Due to the recent rains the ground was extremely muddy, causing all three of the grass trucks to get stuck multiple times. Thanks to the land owner and a neighbor with tractors and the Forest Service’s bulldozer, the trucks were pulled out multiple times and the fire was contained.

“These are dangerous conditions,” said Chief Kelly. “As firefighters we are taught to stay in the black or burned out area of the fire, that’s were it’s the safest. But on many portions of this fire we weren’t able to do that because of brush and trees, and the trucks got stuck moving from one area to the next. Fortunately all Firefighter’s followed their training and kept 25 percent of the water in their tanks to protect the trucks and crew if the need arose, which thankfully it didn’t. Muldoon utilized one of it’s members drone to help get an aerial view and locate hot spots.”

Muldoon responded with 12 firefighters and four trucks while Flatonia sent two trucks and four firefighters. Texas A&M Forest Service sent two personnel and a bulldozer. Chief Kelly said the success for putting the fire out was a combination of calling for extra resources early, good training and a great working relationship with mutual aid crews. The fire burned 22 acres. No structures were lost. All resources were clear of the scene at 4:30 p.m.