Fire Department will Monitor Debris Fire Near Lake All Night

A grass fire erupted late Friday afternoon near Lake Nasworthy causing the San Angelo Fire Department to respond. The exact location of the fire is the 1700 block of Lakeshore Blvd.

At the scene, it appeared that one pile of brush ignited, and multiple piles of brush from a recent cleanup operation surrounded the lit pile. Fire inspector Karla Steppe estimates that the piles of brush have been there for six to eight months.

Steppe said that the owner of the land approached the city a while back to obtain a permit to burn the debris. The controlled burn permit was denied, she said, because the piles did not comply with the city’s code for a permit. The person did not re-apply. “There was no permit issued,” Steppe said.

Steppe investigated if children playing around the area may have caused the fire. She said that investigation turned up empty. There were no clues that any children were in the vicinity of the pile of debris on fire.

“It’s burned really clean. There was only black smoke in the beginning,” Steppe said, dismissing the idea that there were accelerants aiding the fire.

Was approached to issue a permit but the piles did not comply with the requirements of obtaining the permit, so the application was denied. The person did not re-apply for a permit. “There was no permit issued,” Steppe said.

Steppe estimated that the pile of brush will be burning for quite a while, requiring the battalion chief to rotate crews in and out.

“To try to put it out like it is, it will consume a lot of water. So we’re going to let it burn down until we get to just the coals. There’s no sense in wasting any water,” she said.

Crews will stand by all night to make sure that the fire doesn’t spread. The SAFD is fortunate that there has been significant rain.

The 9-1-1 call reporting the fire happened at 5 p.m. Friday afternoon.