By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County firefighters today returned to the scene of a brush fire that flared late Wednesday
along Vega Verde Road in southern Val Verde County.
Val Verde County Fire Rescue Department Chief Jorge Vargas told The 830 Times today
county firefighters initially were dispatched to the fire about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Vargas said he believed the fire may have been ignited by sparks
thrown by a passing
train. The area that caught fire is a parcel of vacant land near the Abbey Farm along Vega
Verde Road, between the road and the railroad tracks.
Dense stands of small trees and piles of deadfall cover the area where the fire started.
Vargas said county firefighters, assisted by firefighters from the Del Rio Fire
Department, stayed at the scene for about five hours Wednesday.
County firefighters returned to the scene of the fire about 9:30 a.m. today after a passerby
called in smoke rising from several “hot spots” in the burned area.
Part-time county firefighter Miguel Rubio drove one of the county fire department’s
brush trucks onto the property.
The truck carries a 1,000-gallon tank of water and its sturdy, high-clearance tires and
chassis make it the perfect vehicle for carrying firefighters and their gear to these types of
fires.
Once they arrived and located the smoldering “hot spots,” Vargas assisted Rubio with
unspooling the hose from the truck, and Rubio sprayed gallons of water on three different
brush piles, one of which seemed on the verge of re-igniting.
Vargas said while fighting the fire Wednesday night, he was most concerned with gusting
winds and making sure embers from the fires didn’t get near a group of three houses just
down the road from the area where the fire was burning.
High winds blew through the area Wednesday afternoon and evening. Gusts reached
more than 40 miles per hour, according to data on the National Weather Service’s climate
data page for Del Rio.
Vargas said on Wednesday night he also kept an eye on a fire that was burning on the
Mexico side of the Rio Grande across from the Star Ranch near the Del Rio Port of Entry.
“We stayed on standby, just to make sure the fire didn’t cross the river,” Vargas said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
