Accidental Forest Fires Ignite in Hartsburg

Fire Chief Jim Bullard and nearby resident Barrett Glascock assess the spread

Around 11:00am on Thursday, Feb. 8^th, the Southern Boone County Fire District responded to a wildland fire at the end of East Eagle Trace in Hartsburg.

Nearby resident Syl Thornton says he burned a small pile of debris near the wood line on Tuesday, as many other neighbors also do.

Fire continued to smolder from this small pile of debris and eventually ignited nearby brush two days later

Thornton says that when he came back to check on it Thursday morning, the debris was still smoldering. Thornton says that as he tried to put the fire out, the wind picked up embers and spread them throughout the nearby dry vegetation. He immediately called emergency services when he realized the embers had ignited several other areas in the forest.

Junior Firefighter William Wright removes fuel from the fire line and tosses it into the black, already-burned areas

Fire Chief Jim Bullard says no persons were injured and about 5 acres of underbrush were consumed. The Southern Boone County Fire District extinguished the fire within 3 hours from arriving on scene. It was not clear at the time whether the property owner of the forest was aware of the fire but the fire district says they do make an effort to identify property owners in such circumstances.

A second wildland fire ignited less than a mile and a half away at the end of South David Sapp Road in Hartsburg within a few hours of the East Eagle Trace fire. Property owners Mary Lou & Daryl Raitt monitored closely and assisted in directing fire district personnel, as the second fire danced on the border of their land and the adjacent wood line. Chief Bullard said the cause of the second fire is unknown.