Fire Chief: 'Fortunate' Grass Fire Only Destroys 10-15 Acres

A grass fire north of Orchard on Saturday morning destroyed 10-15 acres of pasture, but it easily could have destroyed a lot more than that.

According to Orchard Fire Department Chief Duane Risinger, they received the call at 9:12 am. and immediately called for mutual aid. Royal, Brunswick and Plainview all responded to the fire located 3 miles north and 1/2 mile east - or about 513 Ave and 866 Rd. 

“We were fortunate to get things under control when we did,” Risinger said. “It wasn’t very far from a full line of cedar trees along the road. If it would have hit that, it was almost a guarantee it would get across the highway, into the cornfield and CRP.”

Risinger said the fire was under control within an hour, but it took quite a while to drown out all of the hot spots. Brunswick and Plainview departments were sent back around 11:30 a.m. with Orchard and Royal on scene for another 90 minutes. 

“We saw the smoke as soon as we were out of town and requested mutual aid before we even got on scene,” he said. “We were fortunate to get it under control."

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