Big Spring grass fire burns more than 800 acres

Fire crews are putting out the embers after a massive grass fire erupted south of Big Spring.

When Teresa Darling found out a grass fire was raging near her brother’s home she was terrified his house would be swallowed by flames while he and his family were out of town on vacation.

“When I seen the smoke come up and someone said hey it’s best your brothers place, I was like ‘Oh my god,’” she said. “And I’m coming back from Midland trying to get here. I didn’t realize until Stanton my initial thought was ‘Oh god please save their home.’”

Fortunately, his house wasn’t singed, but it was a close one.

The fire was halted only a few yards away.

“We all prayed,” Darling said. “Thank god for all these firefighters and I just want to say thank you for that because it saved their home.”

That family was lucky under the conditions. Howard County Volunteer Fire Chief Mitchell Hooper said Tuesday’s fire spread fast after it started east of Highway 87.

Fire officials said the blaze sparked around 4:30 p.m. and in just a few hours it burned more than 800 acres until it stopped by that home.

“We’ve actually had maybe one or two smaller grass fires,” Hooper said. “We get this one and we went from nothing to a big one pretty quick.”

Hooper said units from Howard, Glasscock and Sterling County worked together and stopped the fire before it could damage any of the nearby homes and other properties.

He said in light of this massive fire the county could potentially issue a burn ban.

“I’m very thankful, very thankful,” Darling said. “And they’re very thankful. They’re very thankful for the volunteer firefighters that came from all areas. I just want to give a shout to them because they’re wonderful people.”