Another grass fire

HOWARD COUNTY Howard County suffered its second major grass fire in three days as 400 acres burned 9 miles west of Big Spring, Howard County volunteer fire chief Tommy Sullivan said.

The blaze was reported about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Quinn Ranch, a private oilfield and ranch land. Sullivan said as many as 45 homes were threatened by the blaze at one point but that firefighters were able to stop its spread.

No injuries or building damage were reported.

The fire was 95 percent contained at press time, but Sullivan said he did not expect it to be extinguished until Sunday.

A smaller 300-acre fire in the Vincent area that was reported Tuesday already was extinguished.

The Texas Forest Service assisted the seven Howard County Volunteer Fire Department units responding to the fire.

Just an hour before the Quinn Ranch blaze was reported, six of those units had put out a quarter-acre fire at Jonesboro Road that threatened three homes. Sullivan said no damage was reported from that fire, either.

The cause of Thursday's grassfire was a downed power pole that was snapped by the strong winds that blew throughout the Permian Basin. Sullivan said the electricity from the power line "arced" and lit up the nearby grass.