Nearly 200-acre north Tarrant County wildfire sparked by construction, led to evacuations
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office evacuated some residents and asked the public to avoid the area of Highway 287 near the intersection of East Peden Road and North Saginaw Boulevard due to a large grass fire Wednesday.
In an update at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said that Bonds Ranch and Peden Roads were reopened. Firefighters said at that time that the blaze was under control and contained. All residents were allowed to return to their homes.
The Texas A&M Forest Service responded to a request for assistance Wednesday afternoon to help fight the fire in northwest Tarrant County.
The fire grew to almost 200 acres, according to an 8:15 p.m update from the Texas A&M Forest Service. It was 184 acres and 100% contained at that time. All state resources were released Wednesday night, while local officials continued to monitor the wildfire.
The sheriff’s office had asked the public to avoid Highway 287 from Bonds Ranch Road to Tinsley and the Peden Road area in a Twitter post. The sheriff’s office also asked the public to avoid the Eagle Vista and Grand Saline neighborhoods until it was later advised that the area was safe.
Several structures were initially threatened by the closeness of the fire but no buildings were damaged and no injuries were reported, officials said.
Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez said in a tweet that it’s believed the fire was started by a construction crew cutting rebar.
High temperatures and re-emerging drought conditions have resulted in elevated fire weather concerns, the National Weather Service said in a Twitter post. The NWS advises people to exercise caution when outdoors where there is potential for grass fires to start.
Throughout Wednesday, Texas A&M Forest Service firefighters and other state agencies responded to 14 wildfires that burned 2,789.4 acres across the state.
This story was originally published July 19, 2023 at 6:52 PM.
