It took seven fire departments two hours to put out the fire that started on Highway 37 about two miles east of the interstate. NewsChannel 11's Kealey McIntire was on the scene and has more on what happened.
After two hours of fighting a major grass fire, only a few small flames remained. However, before smoke filled the sky. The cotton on a flatbed truck caught fire, fell off, and started a fire that burned 1,500 acres. The smoke was visible from Lubbock, almost 40 miles away. It took seven fire departments with nearly 40 trucks to put it out.
"You just start at one end and start putting it out. It's like painting a house, you're going to have a great big house, but you gotta start somewhere," said Hale Center Firefighter Ronald Groves.
Their main concern was protecting two homes directly in the fire's path, with which they were successful. The only structure the fire destroyed was an abandoned home.
"The least spark starts a major fire if the fuel's available," said Groves.
The fire spread so far so fast because of the dry grass. The dry and windy conditions are exactly why we're in the middle of a burn ban.
"I'd like to caution everybody because it's so dry, the humidity's so low, it doesn't take much of a spark to cause a major fire. Be very careful," warned Groves.
No one was injured during the fire and no one had to be evacuated. Firefighters still aren't sure what caused the cotton to set fire.
