West Texas Grass Fires - A Sunday Afternoon's Adventure

A grass fire in dry West Texas can destroy a lot of vegetation if it gets out of control. So, when I saw one along a highway yesterday and saw how it was being dealt with I was a little surprised.

Sunday morning I was cruising East on I-20, and just east of Big Spring, Tx., a Howard County Sheriff's deputy's car whizzed past me. And, a couple of minutes later I began to see smoke blowing with the stiff Southerly wind, and as I got closer I could see that grass fires had broken out in three places along the Interstate.

As I approached I saw the deputy's car crossing the median toward the fire, and there was another deputy's car parked nearby. I continued driving East and then decided to take the next exit to double back to see what they were going to do. Before I reached the next exit a very old fire truck with only one person on board came speeding toward the fire from the opposite direction.

I eventually got to the exit and did the turnaround. Several minutes had passed by the time I arrived back in the area of the fires and there I saw the one firefighter lugging a hose from the truck about to fight the fire that was in the Interstate median - the farthest point North of the burning area. I would have thought she would have started on the fire that had already crossed the median and service road, but maybe firefighting protocol says to go with the wind, not against it.

Anyway, the deputy's car had pulled up beside another deputy's car, and it appeared the two were chatting with each other. Again, maybe that's part of the protocol. Sheriff's deputies fight crime, firefighters fight fires, and no one does the other's job. But, it looked to me as if the deputies could have pitched in a little bit by stomping on the flames or beating them with a blanket, or what about fire extinguishers? Surely a well equipped sheriff's deputy's car contains at least one fire extinguisher.

If you've gotten this far in the story you're probably saying to yourself "well, if you are going to be so judgmental about the other guys why the heck didn't YOU get out and stomp the gosh darn flames?" Well, the truth is it didn't even occur to me to do that until I was several miles away. And, I may have been a tiny bit intimidated by the do-nothing-deputies. But, stick with me, the story's not over yet.

At this point I was headed West, the opposite direction I wanted to go, so I went on to the next exit and did another turnaround to head East again. By the time I got back to the fire the one firefighter had just finished extinguishing one of the fires. And only one of the deputies remained watching from the safety of his car, the other being nowhere in sight. And the fire had reached the fence line beyond the road and was lapping up into the mesquite trees beyond the fence. I continued on my own journey encountering two more speeding fire trucks before reaching the next town.

I stayed in Abilene a few hours and left to return to Midland later in the day. Somewhere between Abilene and Big Spring I stopped at a roadside rest stop and by sheer coincidence I happened to notice a very serious sign there with all sorts of instructions and warnings for preventing prairie fires. It instructed to call 911 if a fire is spotted, get permission from the landowner before starting a fire, extinguish all flames completely and do not leave any smoldering embers. The sign was so earnest it would have brought swells of pride to Smoky the Bear.

I eventually arrived back at the original fire site around six hours after that original encounter. There were several blackened areas, and it looked like the fire had blacked an area South of the fence line, and there were a couple of blackened tree stumps along with several burnt limbs. But, the most intriguing feature was the smoking embers and four inch flames coming from two spots, a tree stump and a nearby limb. Both the stump and the burning part of the limb were a couple of feet above the ground, and the stiff wind was still blowing South. And, other than the cars zipping along the Interstate there was not a soul in sight. No firefighters, no deputies, just me.

Was that a dangerous situation? Could the fire have been spread by that strong wind? I happened to have two gallons of R.O. water in the car, so I lugged them out and dumped the water on the fire extinguishing the flames. Was that necessary? Well, I don't know. Maybe I saved half of Howard County from a prairie fire. Or maybe it would have eventually burned itself out on it's own as the firefighters must have assumed. But, I would have thought that competent firefighters wouldn't have left the area until they had put it out completely. Isn't that what Smoky told us?

Well, I don't know what would have happened. I'm either a good Samaritan or a busy body. I'll never know. And so ends my tale of a Sunday afternoon's adventure. And, if you're driving along I-20 East of Big Spring and see a fire charred area along the roadway, you'll know there's a story behind it.

Comments

[Allen]

Your action, much more than the sign, would make Smoky Bear swell with pride!

Way to go!

[George]

Thanks!

[anonymous]

From a professional fire fighter for the city of Big Spring, most grass fires fall in the jurisdiction of the Volunteer Fire Dept. I will not state their level of competency, but I will say had any menber of my Dept responded to said fire, it would have been completely extinguished before we left scene.

[George]

Anonymous,

Thanks for your input.

I relayed my experience to a firefighter, and he told me that many times they can't completely extinguish a large grass fire. They just do their best to get it under control, and it will go out on its own. Perhaps that was the theory at work that day.

I don't know where the Eastern city limit of Big Spring is, but if the refinery lies outside the city then a fire there could be a serious challenge for the volunteers.

Regardless of that, please know that I have tremendous respect for firefighters and everyone else involved in emergency services whether they are paid or whether they are volunteers. It's an often dirty job, and it may seem to be a thankless job to you. So, here's a "Thank You" from one citizen for your efforts to make all of us a little bit safer.

George