Volatile Day for Fires Prompts Burn Ban

One of the busiest firefighting days in years kept local responders hopping from one fire to another Wednesday and then resulted in the county enacting a burn ban the next day.

“We responded to six fires in all that day, but we were fortunate that they were kind of spaced out,” said La Grange fire chief Frank Menefee. “About the time we’d finish with one, another would pop up and we’d be able to get to the next one.”

There were no fires Thursday but even with the burn ban Menefee is worried about the increasingly dry conditions.

“I’m really concerned about the fall, there’s a lot of dry vegetation out there because of all the rain we had in the spring,” Menefee said.

Here’s a look at some of Wednesday’s larger fires according to information from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department:

• Around 11:47 a.m. a fire was reported on Lange Rd. near Schoenst Rd. in the Round Top area. The Round Top-Warrenton Fire Department was notified and responded to the scene. Upon arrival assistance was requested from the Ledbetter Fire Department who also responded. The fire was started by a hay cutter while cutting hay. About 32 acres of pasture burned and there were no reported structures damaged.

• Around 1:42 p.m. a grass fire was reported on Old St. Hwy 71 E/B near Joiner Rd. The La Grange Fire Department was notified and responded to the fire. Ellinger Fire Department was requested to assist. It was reported to be a previous control burn that wind picked up and spread to the surrounding grass.

• At 2:42 p.m. a fire was reported on FM 609 near Ron’s Auto. The La Grange Fire Department responded to the scene and a small grass fire was extinguished. I was believed to have started by a tire from a vehicle.

• Around 2:53 p.m. a grass fire was reported on Pitchfork Rd. off the St. Hwy 71 Bypass Feeder Rd. The La Grange Fire Department responded and it reported one acre of grass was burning. It started as a control burn.

• Around 3:04 p.m. The La Grange Fire Department was notified and responded to another control burn that spread in the grass on Plum Church Rd. near Old Lockhart Rd. Assistance was requested from the Muldoon Fire Department who responded to the scene. The fire spread to a structure which was fully engulfed. The structure was a travel trailer that was abandoned. Deputies Ryan Meagher and Ben Wilson also responded to the fire. A group of goats was penned near the fire, one suffered burns, but all were saved.