Ellis County Grass Fire Burns 250 Acres
ELLIS COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) – Fire fighters contained a wildfire that burned 250 acres along Ike Road in Ellis County nearly six hours after it started Tuesday.
The fire broke out at about 12:15 p.m. "during normal agricultural use of mowing equipment," county spokeswoman Diana Buckley said in a release.
Twenty families were evacuated, as the fire threatened 20 homes in the area. No structures burned in the fire, Buckley said, although a travel trailer, a truck and a boat were destroyed.
The neighborhood was reopened at 6 p.m. once the fire was totally contained, Buckley said.
Seventeen Ellis County agencies responded to the blaze. Four planes dumped fire retardant on the fire, while brush trucks battled it from the ground. Two Hill County volunteer fire departments monitored Eliis County's emergency calls while the agencies doused the flames.
Although none of the families lost their homes, the Red Cross was on scene to support the evacuees. Temperatures in the area reached more than 105 degrees Tuesday afternoon.
Buckley said the Texas Forestry Service will be on scene for two days and a county emergency squad will be "handling fire watch overnight."
