Penwell grassfire

Eleven firefighting trucks from West Odessa, the city of Odessa and Crane County fought a fire that grew to between 200 and 300 acres Tuesday afternoon along the Ector-Crane county line, Odessa acting battalion chief Hugh Koenig said.

By 4 p.m., they were still working on several hotspots, including some that created small smoke columns out in the distance east of FM 1601 south of Penwell. Koenig said no structures were threatened and no one was injured "yet."

"The wind wasn't really blowing but by the time we got here it started picking up again," Koenig said.

The effort did draw a lone spectator and slowed down an occasional car passing along FM 1601 at the county line, where the only other signs of civilization other than the road are those marking the county line.

Dispatchers in Odessa were first called about the fire at 2:28 p.m. One of the dispatcher said they were slammed with calls on the fire since then. Along I-20 in West Odessa, a small fire off the shoulder tied up one of the West Odessa trucks.