At about 3 p.m. fire crews from Magnolia responded to a reported grass fire on FM 1488 near College Park. Units arrived to find heavy fire along the power line easement and spreading fast. Calls for additional trucks and manpower were made from Needham and The Woodlands, Texas Forest Service in addition to more units from Magnolia. Entergy was on the scene and cut power to the high power lines overhead to keep firefighters safe. However, doing this put several in the dark. Another issue arose as crews finished working under the lines Entergy had to cautiously re-energize the lines. It was close to 4:30 pm, one of the peak times for electric usage. Crews had to watch as the current draw from air conditioning units started up which created a heavier load. FM 1488 was reduced to one lane westbound which caused a backup onto I-45 as engines and tankers occupied other lines. When a fire grows to over 100 acres, The Texas A&M Forest Service names that fire. Under that, it just assigns a number such as Montgomery 3808. However, crews on the scene deemed it the “Leave it to Beaver” fire. The reason was due to the fact that a beaver started the fire. A beaver had chewed a tree which fell into the power lines sparking the fire.
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