Nobody was injured, but several small structures were damaged Tuesday afternoon when high winds fanned a wildfire near Oktibbeha County Lake.
Firefighters from Adaton-Self Creek Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched just before 5 p.m. to a report of a grass fire off Buntin Drive, on the south side of the lake.
“We got out there and we had a full-fledged firestorm with a 25 mile-per-hour wind,” Oktibbeha County Fire Services Coordinator Kirk Rosenhan said. “We knocked it down, but it was quite spectacular for a few minutes with that wind. There was a great deal of fire and a whole lot of smoke.”
Firefighters from Bell Schoolhouse Volunteer Fire Department and Maben also were dispatched to the scene. Houses on both sides of the fire were spared from damage, but several outbuildings, a camper and a host of nearby trees were damaged, Rosenhan said.
“We were able to stop the thing in the woods,” Rosenhan said. “It wasn”t a solid fire in there. Stuff had blown up in there, so we had several dozen little fires. Some stuff was blown up in the trees, but we were able to knock it down.”
Rosenhan estimates the fire was under control in about 30 minutes.
A trash fire or “little outside fire” are thought to be the cause of the blaze, but it is still under investigation, Rosenhan said. The entire state remains under a burn ban.
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