At 15:26 hours this afternoon, A-Shift was dispatched to a report of a brush fire threatening a structure at 600 Waterstone Drive. The department's response was two engines, one tanker, one ladder, one brush truck, one support vehicle and one Chief. The first on scene unit reported a controlled burn at a construction site. Upon further investigation it was found that the construction company was utilizing an air curtain burner to dispose of debris created from land clearing operations. They believe brands from the air curtain burner escaped and ignited a nearby stock pile of debris. Due to the volume of material in the pile, the decision was made to allow it to burn which would reduce the available fuels and therefore reduce the risks of fire spread beyond the pile. Our firefighters remained on scene for three hours building hand dug fire breaks around the perimeter and extinguishing flare ups when needed. The pile will continue to smolder and may occasionally have flare ups over the next week or so unless we get significant rain. What's burning is separated by cleared and graded soil. A dozer plow was used to increase the size of the fire breaks that were initially hand built by our firefighters. Citizens should expect the smell of wood smoke in the air over night and into the early morning. As the weather warms and dries tomorrow, the smoke and smell should dissipate again. The construction crew will be monitoring the fire periodically through the night.
Because this type of dispatch involves a potential structure fire, New Hope Fire, Eno Fire and Orange Grove Fire were also dispatched to this call. We appreciate the teamwork and dedication of our personnel and all of the firefighters that came to help us today.
