Out of reach of fire trucks, the blaze spread quickly and the department, armed with just basic equipment, couldn't keep it under control on their own.
"We're having a hard time getting water back in here so we're throwing -- just doing what I'm doing -- throwing dirt on it, trying to pull some of these piles apart," said Flint firefighter Wayne Lynch.
Armed with shovels and brooms, Flint firefighters attacked the 6 acres of smoldering and burning brush.
"In some aspects, this is a lot harder than a structure fire," Lynch said.
It's harder because the terrain wasn't accessible by fire trucks, and that's all that Flint has.
"Well, right now we just have to use brooms and shovels the old-fashioned way until we get a grass truck. That's all we can do," said Flint Fire Department Capt. Steve Kinsman.
Genesee Township and Davison obliged, bringing in their grass trucks. Flint says they do have all the grass firefighting equipment they need, but no truck to put it on. So they did their best on the large fire until reinforcements showed up.
"Whoever set it, they took their time when they're setting it, 'cause it's a lot of different places. The perimeter's real large, so it looks like whoever did it they knew what they were doing," said Flint firefighter Mike Lee.
But fighting this kind of fire has firefighters concerned about how they'll do on the next one.
"It kind of gets your attention by looking up over there and make sure no one is in trouble," Lynch said.
In total, six fire departments fought the fire, including Clio and Mt. Morris Township, which brought in their ATVs to help get to hot spots.
While some think the fire was intentionally set, others say a nearby passing train could have set off the blaze when sparks hit the dry brush along the tracks.
