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April 22, 2009

Truck causes blaze near Bray

John Walker

BRAY — BRAY — A grass fire erupted near Bray off of Duncan Lake Road Wednesday afternoon shortly after a pickup truck got stuck in some tall grass.

Bray Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bennie Whaley said that there were about 40 fire fighters fighting the roughly 1/2 mile, north to south, by 3/4 miles, east to west, grass fire.

Firefighters originally thought that the fire was going to reach some houses, so they were prepared to evacuate, but firefighters were able to keep the spreading flames away from the homes, Whaley said.

One factor that helped in fighting the fire was that there was relatively low winds outside, at least compared with the fires that devastated Velma over two weeks ago.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web site, winds throughout Wednesday held steady in the area between 10 and 15 miles-per-hour with gusts up to about 20 miles-per-hour.

At about 8 p.m. Wednesday, the fire was finally starting to come under control, Whaley said.

"We have about 200 yards of fire line left," he said. "We have just that one stretch left."

Whaley thinks that based on the preliminary investigation, the fire started at about 1:45 p.m. when a one-ton pickup truck pulling a tractor on a trailer got stuck in some tall grass.

There are a multitude of possibilities as to how the pickup truck could have started the fire, he said.

"For example, the tires spinning could have caused sparks to fly," Whaley said.

The truck, tractor and trailer were destroyed in the blaze, but the driver was uninjured, Whaley said.

No other injuries were reported.

Six fire departments assisted Bray: Marlow, Doyle, Empire, Oakridge, Duncan and Velma.

The Stephens County Sheriff's Department also assisted as did the Red Cross, who provided food for the volunteers, Whaley said.

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