Sunday afternoon turned of to be a beautiful day. With the temperatures in the seventies many decided to start Spring cleaning early. Cleaning around their homes, burning leaves and brush.
Then just before Caney Creek firefighters were about to set down for lunch the second call of the day came in. A brush fire in the Lake Wildwood Subdivision near the railroad tracks off FM 1485. An engine and brush truck responded to find a large area of grass and woods burning and the winds pushing it toward homes. Requesting a second brush truck they went to work. Fighting the rough terrain of stumps, logs and thorns they were able to get it under control within thirty minutes.
Most of the time on a fire like this a dead hollow tree happens to be in the burn area. When this happens it usually needs to come down. The hollow trees may start burning at the base but like a chimney start emitting hot embers out the top which have a potential to start additional fires.
Working together they were able to finally get the old oak tree down.
During this time with the two trucks parked in the driveway of a residents home where the fire was burning lunch was back on their minds as the smell of the fajitas on the pit not five feet from the truck the resident of that home was cooking.
Then came the news of their friend and fellow fighter Jody Bell was killed earlier in the morning in a car crash in Goodrich, Texas.
Weighing heavy on their hearts on the return to the station and discussing what could be done to assist the family with funeral arrangements another call came in.
This time on Deer Glen West Drive off Old Houston Road. A trash fire spread to brush and then to a large stack of railroad ties covered in almost fifty sheets of tin.
It was dispatched as a house fire. Caney Creek, New Caney and River Plantation Fire Departments were responding. Enroute to the scene the thick black smoke was thought to confirm that. Still when they arrived on the scene it took an engine and three tankers of water to extinguish the stubborn fire. With the sheets of tin covering it they also had to be removed by hand to gain access to the main body of the fire.
They were not the only departments fighting brush fires. Splendora was called to assist Cleveland on a large brush fire and Magnolia had a large brush fire of their own to contend with.
During the next week Spring like temperatures will remain. Even with the past rains we have had the grass remains dry. With low humidity and winds an unattended brush fire can become a large out of control fire and even endanger homes or structures.
