Hallsville fire damages 5 acres of land

A brush fire got out of control Saturday afternoon and burned several acres of land off Highway 124 in Hallsville.

The Boone County Fire Protection District responded to the fire around 1:30 p.m.

According to fire officials, someone was burning branches and yard debris on their property and started a small fire.

The wind picked up and changed direction suddenly. It blew the fire into a small area of trees. It tore across the roadway onto the neighbor’s land.

There’s no property damage and no one injured.

Officials said if there is damage done to property, the person who started the fire is usually responsible for the cost of that damage.

Battalion Chief Chuck Leake said it is not the right conditions to burn anything right now because the wind is too intense and the vegetation is too dry to burn items like branches.

“I wish I could tell you in winds like this that there is a trick or tip, but there’s not. With the amount of wind that we have right now, any kind of open burning, that little bonfire for s’mores up to a small pile of brush,” he said. “It didn’t take a very big pile to burn 5 acres today.”

He said it’s hard for the fire department to get out ahead of these out of control brush fires because they’re fighting against the wind. The fires can even start again, even if they’ve been put out, whether it’s by the fire department or the person who started the burn.

“You may think that you’ve got the majority of that and see a few smoldering embers,” he said. “They roll into the leaves. That’s dry fuel waiting, something to give enough heat and Mother Nature is giving it all the air it needs to breathe.”

Fire officials continue to urge people not to burn anything at all because fire can easily get out of control in these conditions or can blaze back up easily once they’ve been put out, since the vegetation is so dry and the winds so strong.