East Texas

By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer

A small pile of burning trash spread flames to more than 65 acres of a tree farm Thursday afternoon between Whitehouse and Bullard.

The fire was located in a five-mile radius between County Road 1161 and CR 122, which made it difficult for fire departments to locate.

Whitehouse, Bullard and Troup volunteer fire departments responded to the call at around 1:45 p.m., but when they arrived they saw smoke, but couldn’t find the flames.

The fire, combined with blustery winds, tossed burning debris into the air, spreading the burn.

“It’s right in the middle, so we’re looking for a way to attack it,” a Whitehouse firefighter said on scene.

At about 3 p.m., an East Texas Medical Center helicopter was used to fly over the fire area and assess the damage, and help firefighters find points of entry to the flames.

“When they fly over we can get a better idea of how much we’re dealing with,” one firefighter said.

The fire zone, mostly in a rural, heavily wooded area, was inaccessible by road, so the fire departments had to make their own.

“It was very remote. We had to use the bulldozers,” said Bullard Volunteer Fire Department Chief Keith Newburn.

With bulldozers, firefighters plowed a path to the fire. In its wake, a strip of cool dirt mixed with roots and crushed trees.

Te plan was to control by containing. Using bulldozers, the fire departments made a control line around the perimeter eliminating anything the blaze could use as fuel.

“When there is nothing left to burn, it will burn itself out,” Newburn said.
The fire crawled along the ground, burning dry leaves and sticks and eventually crept to the control line where firefighters shoveled dirt onto any flames that reached the edge.

As the fire spread, departments brought in fire trucks and positioned them along CR 1161 to protect houses. Residents along the narrow road walked through a haze of white smoke as they entered and left their homes most of the afternoon.

Also watching was the homeowner along CR 211 who said he believed the trash he was burning caused the blaze.

“I work the graveyard shift, so when I went to work last night I put the fire out,” he said.

“The wind must have started it back up. When it got to the fence there was nothing I could do,” he said. “I was the one who called the fire department.”

By 7 p.m., most of the firefighters had returned to their stations and the Smith County Fire Marshall’s Office was called to the scene to investigate.

No homes were damaged during the fire.

Whitehouse Volunteer Fire fighter Shawn Bassham watches the bulldozer build a fire break at a fire west of Whitehouse on Thursday. The fire burned up an estimated 65 acres of dense pine forest.
((Staff Photo By Tom Turner))