It was a race against time and windy conditions in East Fort Worth Tuesday afternoon after a grass fire sparked on the side of the interstate.
An estimated 70 firefighters rushed to the westbound side of I-30, just east of Loop 820. Fortunately, though the fire grew to a third alarm, there are no buildings near the scene so evacuations were not necessary, according to the Fort Worth Fire Department.
Tarrant County is considered an urban county so even small grass fires have the ability to quickly get out of control.
The Tarrant County fire marshal said his crews have put out 15 to 20 grass fires in unincorporated areas of the county in the past four weeks when they typically respond to ten.
Fire Marshal Rand Renois says it’s important residents head county burn bans and help prevent fires around their homes.
Make sure your rain gutters are free of debris, he said.
Do not leave piles of debris around your house to help prevent any possible embers from sparking.
“Keep your yard mowed real short and be cautious. If it’s coming toward you, be prepared to have to evacuate and take your prized possessions and emergency stuff with you,” said Renois. “We’ve had a couple of those fires where people either didn’t know that there was a burn ban. People should know that we’re in a critical condition. When the governor declares our county, an urban county, a disaster it’s pretty serious.”
Firefighters were rotated in and out of the afternoon grass fire along I-30 because of the extreme heat, according to FWFD.
A ‘rehab truck’ full of water and medical personnel were on the scene monitoring first responders.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
TEXAS WILDFIRE INCIDENTS
TEXAS BURNING: INSIDE THE STORM
In April 2011, during an extreme drought, four out-of-control wildfires burning in close proximity to each other were dubbed the Possum Kingdom Complex fire. The fires scorched 150,000 acres of parched Texas ranch land and destroyed 150 homes and two churches.
Senior Meteorologist David Finfrock said in the NBC 5 docu-series Inside the Storm: Texas Burning, that at that time the period from August 2010 to July 2011 was the driest 12 consecutive months on record.
Later that summer, in August, a second fire erupted near the lake called the PK 101 Ranch fire. That fire burned more than 6,000 additional acres on the south side of the lake and destroyed nearly 40 more homes.
On Sept. 4, 2011, a massive wildfire erupted in Central Texas. The Bastrop County Complex fire, east of Austin, became the most destructive wildfire in Texas history. More than 1,600 homes and structures were destroyed when 32,000 acres were scorched, including 96% of the 6,565-acre Bastrop State Park. Two people died in the fires.
During that 2011 fire season, the Texas A&M Forest Service said more than 31,000 fires burned more than four million acres across the state and destroyed 2,947 homes.
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