A massive fire spreading through Wise County on February 14 threatened to damage homes and livestock in the area.
Boyd Fire-Rescue arrived at County Road 4698 after receiving a call from a town resident at 1:23 p.m., reporting a fire of about 20 by 20 feet.
A member of the community told reporters that he was able to see the smoke when he was seven miles from home.
Zach Vess said, “You could see it from way over there. And I was like, there’s something on fire around here. So we got closer, and it was right across the street.”
The blaze began in the rural area near farmland and homes.
As it travelled over more than 200 acres in Southern Wise County, horses and cattle could be seen fleeing the field.
Several fire crews from Wise, Denton, Tarrant, and Parker counties assisted in stopping the flames before more damage could be done. They also used U.S. Forestry Service planes to drop fire retardants and water.
One homeowner, Brent Wilson, volunteered to aid the crews. He said he and his friends cut fences and wet houses to contain the fire.
They even utilized his skid-steer (a small piece of construction equipment usually used for digging) to dig fire breaks and dump dirt on the flames. Eventually, they got too close to the flames, and the machine caught fire.
According to Chief Deputy Craig Johnson for Wise County Sheriff, strong winds made it more difficult to suppress the blaze. Johnson said the wind and dry weather encouraged its spread.
Firefighters focused on extinguishing the hot spots on Monday evening to prevent the grass fire from escalating further.
The fire remained active as of Tuesday morning, but was approximately 90% contained. Officials say it burned between 250 and 300 acres; the Texas A&M Forest Service estimates about 265 acres were affected.
Homes in the area were confirmed to have been damaged, but details have not been released on how many were affected. At one point, reports said twenty to thirty homes were threatened. As of Tuesday morning, the only structure reported fully lost was an abandoned building.
No people or animals were harmed in fire.
Many residents have offered to donate water and supplies; officials have requested they coordinate with their local fire departments to drop off donations as opposed to bringing them to the scene.
An investigation is ongoing to discover the cause, but officials suspect it may have been triggered by a lit cigarette. Wise County currently has a burn ban in place, and reminds residents to avoid activities or actions that could start a fire.
