OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — The Oktibbeha County Fire Department Wednesday extinguished seven grass fires that splintered over a seven-mile area before they could reach trailer homes on County Lake Road and Polly Bell Road.
At 3:15 p.m., six volunteer units from Adaton, Maben and Bell Schoolhouse, along with two pumpers from the Starkville Fire Department, responded to grass fires at the intersection of highways 82, 182 and 25.
The smoke from the fires caused visibility issues for motorists, Oktibbeha County Fire Services Coordinator Kirk Rosenhan said.
Two of the seven fires were close to fields near County Lake Road and Polly Bell Road, where trailer homes are located. OCFD units extinguished the fires before they threatened the homes.
“If a fire gets in the grass and underneath a house trailer, it can cause damage quicker than a traditional home,” Rosenhan said.
The fires were extinguished in a little more than a half hour, Rosenhan said. No one was injured, and no property was damaged.
Rosenhan said he is unlikely to make a determination on what caused the fires. But the grass on the right-of-way near the three highways was cut this week and had leftover mulch that could have ignited, he said.
“With the conditions right now, it’s not uncommon (to have a grass fire),” Rosenhan said. “There’s enough dry foliage on the ground, so we’re asking people, if they’re burning trash on the ground, be careful.”
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