Grass fire burns 9,000 acres

A grass fire that burned parts of three counties — and narrowly missed Ector County — was snuffed out Friday afternoon after fire crews from around the area pitched in to fight the flames.

Jan Amen, Texas Forrest Service information officer, said the fire that charred 9,000 acres had dwindled down to just hot spots by 5 p.m.

“It was really, really scary for a while,” Amen said. “We got it under control though. For a while, we weren’t sure when it’d end though.”

Amen said the only damage besides grass being burned was a pickup that was destroyed in the blaze.

Michael Cota, a Midland fire investigator, said the blaze began when a power line at Mabee Ranch in Andrews County went down at around 1 p.m.

“I know that the fire spread from Andrews to Martin County and than came south towards Midland County,” Cota said. “It almost went south down 1788 towards Ector County also but was stopped short.”

Cota said Ector County, Midland and Odessa helped put out the blaze along with Texas Forrest Service helicopters.

“We were going to dump 10,000 gallons, but we put it out with only 2,000,” Cota said. “We weren’t just talking acres of fire — we were taking miles and miles.”

Another Texas Forrest Service helicopter dumped another 2,000 gallons at 5 p.m. to help put out hot spots.

At one point during the fire, the Texas Department of Public Safety blocked off about 25 miles of Highway 349 as firefighters battled the blaze.

The fire forced some people from their homes, but it was unclear how many were forced to evacuate.

Some residents and businesses along Highway 349 were preparing to evacuate, and the Midland Country Club was also getting golfers off the course because of the fire.

Workers at a Domino’s Pizza office, 6112 N. Highway 349, were packing up all their files just in case the fire got out of control.

Residents and workers around the area soon sighed in relief after they heard the fire was all but extinguished.

Mark Crouch, a maintenance man for a home in the area, was relieved when he heard the good news.

“Everything looks good now, but I was worried for a while — worried enough to take these horses across the street,” Crouch said as he was petting the two horses he watches. “The fire was pretty close though.”