Members of the Lexington Volunteer Fire Department responded to a grass fire southeast of Lexington around 12:20pm Thursday. Fire Chief Bo Berry says it was about 4 miles east of the Lexington interchange and just north of Interstate 80.
The fire is believed to have started when a tire came off from a semi traveling on the interstate and landed in the pasture. It was contained to about 7 acres within that pasture. A cow-calf pair was uninjured and moved to another pasture by it’s owner.
Berry commended the work of the firefighters before he arrived at the scene. The fire department responded with 12 firefighters, three grass rigs, two tankers, the command vehicle and a side-by-side. Two tractors with discs, provided by farmers, helped create a fire line around the perimeter which he says greatly helped to contain the fire in that area. He said that by having them hooked up, it helped them to respond immediately. Dawson County Emergency Management also responded to the scene.
Berry describes outdoor conditions as “extremely hazardous” right now and with the “extreme lack of moisture and low humidity and the wind conditions that we’ve experienced the last few days…it’s a tinderbox and it doesn’t take much of anything to start a fire right now”.
