Fire destroys 5,000 acres

A grass fire that sparked up Sunday afternoon in Martin County is fully contained, after destroying more than 5,000 acres.

“They started pulling resources off about 8:40 p.m. (Sunday),” John Bear, Texas Forest Service public information officer, said. “It’s still being monitored — there are going to be some hot spots for the next couple of days.”

There were no injuries reported, but two homes were threatened during the fire.

The Midland County Sheriff’s Office temporarily closed Highway 349 north of Midland, as the fire grew near the Midland County line.

“There were some people evacuated,” Bear said. “They were let back in at 8:40 p.m.”

The fire did burn around their houses but missed the structures, Bear said.

“Thank goodness it didn’t hurt the structure at all — or the animals,” Bear said.

The other home was not occupied.

Bear warned that despite the weather change, the Permian Basin remains under a fire watch.

“Don’t let this weather fool you, the fire danger is not over,” he said. “We still have a long fire season ahead of us.”