Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 5:34 PM
Brush 50 and Battalion 3A responded to a grass fire south east of Newton in the County.
The fire had been burning for some time before it was reported, moving through a drainage north of the ignition point until it reached the railroad grade. Arriving on scene, Brush 50 worked the hot spots along the northern edge of the fire where it had turned west along the tracks.
Battalion 3A arrived, establishing Newton command. After driving the edge of the burn area and assessing the mop up required to extinguish smoldering railroad ties discarded along the grade, a request for additional brush trucks and a tender was transmitted through dispatch.
Tender 50, Brush 10, Brush 20, Brush 110, Brush 151 and 3A224 responded to assist with mop up. A request for assistance was also made to the power company, to shut off electricity to the area and assess the damage to the poles.
While the power company inspected the damaged poles, mop-up was completed and all units were released. Batallion 3A remained on scene to gather additional evidence at the point of ignition and to coordinate with the power company representatives.
The size is estimated at 5 acres and the cause of the fire appeared to be a large bird striking the power lines, which then fell into and ignited dry grass near an irrigation pump.
Units completing mop-up of the fire along the tracks:
