Seven fire departments assist Grant with 1000 acre grass fire

On Monday, Feb. 26, at 9:52 a.m., the Grant Volunteer Fire Department started receiving 911 calls reporting a grass fire that started immediately off Hwy 61 at Mile Marker 58, several miles south of Grant.
The cause of the fire is undetermined. “It could have started from a dropped cigarette or a hot wheel bearing,” Grant Fire Chief Don Softley said.
The fire spread to the northeast with wind aggravating the situation. The fire was fueled by dry grass with corn and wheat stubble. About 1000 acres were burned covering a length of about one and one half miles.
The Grant Fire Department was assisted by the volunteer fire departments of Madrid, Wallace, Venango, Elsie, Ogallala, Imperial and Lamar. Twenty-one fire vehicles were involved.
Trucks from three area fertilizer companies voluntarily responded with water, Chief Softley said. Those trucks were staged in a safe area and fed the needed water to fire trucks in the field. The response from those water trucks are self motivated when they become aware of a field fire. They clear it with their dispatchers to divert from their assignments but water needed for an emergency fire situation is priority.
Communications in the field when multiple agency assists are involved requires coordination. “We set up multiple radio frequencies for the north and south flanks from the main that worked out well,” Chief Softley said, who was the Incident Commander.
Numerous area farmers with plowing discs appeared on scene and helped with breaking the fire line. “They cut a swath about 60 feet across,” Chief Softley said.
Retired farmers Bernie and Sue Proskovec who live adjacent to Road 333 near Madrid reported the fire came to within about one third of a mile from their property. “The fire was coming toward us from the west and the wind was blowing from the west,” Sue Proskovec said.
Area farmers and other unidentified persons stopped at the Proskovec property as the fire was being contained and helped them get out their hoses and ladders and watered down the surrounding area.
Some of the grasses in the area grow in clumps that when caught on fire can smolder after they appear to be extinguished. “There were cinders that had gotten blown by the wind and jumped the break by a couple of acres but were quickly contained,” Chief Softley said.
There were no reported injuries or loss of livestock.