Multiple departments battle Bono fire

Matt Smith/msmith@trcle.com

March 19, 2008 06:55 pm

— A grass fire west of Bono on U.S. 67 burned about 135 acres and occupied 10 area fire departments for more than three hours Friday.
A witness who called in the fire while driving down U.S. 67 reported that sparks from the rim of a tractor-trailer that had had a flat sparked the fire, said Eddie Pahl, Bono Volunteer Fire Department assistant chief.
The fire caused no injuries and did not damage structures. A pipeline recently installed through part of the field the fire burned acted as a fire break, Pahl said.
“Yeah, if it wasn’t for that pipeline, we’d probably still be out there,” Pahl said.
As it was, firefighters from Bono, Cleburne, Godley, Mid-North, Liberty Chapel, Rio Vista, Keene, Joshua, Blum and Somervell County battled the blaze from noon to about 3:30 p.m., employing more than 50 firefighters, 13 brush trucks and three tankers, said Keith Scarbrough, Cleburne Fire Department assistant chief. The Texas Forest Service provided eight men and two bulldozers to fight the fire, he said.