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Downed power line blamed in blazes
Published August 7, 2009
ANGLETON — An overheated electrical line likely is the cause of a half-dozen fires which combined into one and burned more than 50 acres of grass and brush Thursday along FM 523.
The road was closed for five hours while crews brought the blaze under control.
About a mile of electric line fell on the south side of FM 523 just west CR 595 and began “multiple fires,” all but one of which burned into one blaze of “between 50 and 60 acres,” Brazoria County Emergency Management Coordinator Kenneth “Doc” Adams said.
“We had multiple fires burning into one,” Angleton Fire Department Capt. John Cole said. “They started on the south side of the road.”
The fires began about 11:25 a.m. and burned short grass and some low branches on a few dozen trees throughout the pasture, Assistant Emergency Manager Steve Rosa said.
“The power line fell due to extensive overheating,” Rosa said.
An Angleton firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion at Angleton Danbury Medical Center and released. No structures were threatened.
Firefighters used tanker and brush trucks to keep the blaze at bay as it slowly burned toward the south, away from FM 523. The fire was largely under control until a light but steady wind shifted to the east, pushing flames into low brush that had not yet burned and sending a large column of yellowish-gray smoke into the air.
Authorities called in a road grader to plow a fire break to keep the partially contained flames from spreading further, Cole said. Green foliage on top of dried grass did little to stop the fire.
“In these conditions, it catches the dry grass underneath and takes off,” Adams said.
A countywide burn ban has been in effect since mid-June. The Brazoria County Keetch-Byram Drought Index remains more than 600, or in the critical fire danger range.
Residents should not do any outdoor burning, and drivers shouldn’t throw cigarette or cigar butts from their vehicles while driving, Brazoria County Fire Marshal Al Priselac said.
Crews from CenterPoint Energy replaced about 250 feet of damaged line about 1 p.m. as the blaze burned away from the road. The downed line likely led to a loss of power by “some customers,” a lineman said, but a CenterPoint spokeswoman did not know how many in the rural area were affected.
Firefighters from Angleton, Lake Jackson, Danbury, Clute and Richwood responded to the blaze. Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office deputies closed FM 523 from FM 2004 to Stratton Ridge Road from about 11:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
There were some cattle in the sprawling pasture, but none of them were injured, Adams said.
“They stayed away from the fire,” he said.
John Lowman covers Brazoria County for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.
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