Three acres of land caught fire at a Collinsville residence on Sunday, caused by a spark from a lawnmower.
Seasonally, Scott and Llori Eichenberger mow an area on their property (near the 300 block of McGeehee Road) and spread corn down for geese to land. Last weekend, shortly after Scott had finished mowing the field, Llori had just gotten out of the shower when she looked out the window and saw that the field was aflame.
“Talk about timing,” she said. “I came out into the great room and happened to look left out into the field and saw that everything was on fire.”
Although both Eichenbergers were home at the time, no people or animals were injured in the fire. The direction of the wind helped to prevent the fire from spreading to their house or other buildings near the property.
The limited damage was remarkable considering Texoma is currently under no burn days (Dec. 26 to Dec. 29) by the Grayson County Fire Marshall due to worsening drought conditions. Rainfall in the area has dropped to less than 20% of normal levels, making fire an increased danger for local properties.
“A fire like today with high fuel (that fire was burning quickly), moving fast across the field, easily could spread into the adjacent properties,” Collinsville Fire Chief Damon Stewart said. “That is the reason for the burn ban -- high wind conditions accompanied with the low vegetation moisture content.”
