The day of flames
<p>Flames engulfed a pile of uncut logs at the Plains Trap Club after a lawnmower on the grounds started a grass fire. </p>
<p>Plains Volunteer Fire Department Chief Joe Sheppard works to extinguish flames on Pilgrim Road. </p>
<p>Plains-Paradise Rural Firefighter Kevin Kerr works to put out the flames as Plains Trap Club groundskeeper Harry Greene watches. </p>
PLAINS – Two unrelated fires erupted at approximately the same time today, Tuesday, May 20, less than a mile apart from one another.
Originally a call came over the scanner for a fire at the Plains Trap Club, however, as responders made their way, they noticed two pillars of smoke. The responders split up to the different fires.
“We pulled out of the hall and its like, which smoke do we go to?” Assistant Rural Fire Chief James Russell said.
Plains-Paradise Rural Fire Department, DNRC and Plains Volunteer Fire Department responded.
Calvin Minemyer of the DNRC responded to a fire on Pilgrim Road. The fire was believed to be a brush pile that was reignited.
“It was old brush piles that the wind and the weather kicked up again,” Minemyer said. The fire was quickly contained.
The fire at the Plains Trap Club was started by a lawnmower.
Harry Greene, the groundskeeper, said he backed up the commercial Walker mower to dump some grass trimmings in their usual location. With the exhaust low to the ground, the belief is a spark landed in the grass clippings, which also housed older, dry clippings.
According to Greene, the fire started smoldering and the breeze kicked up the flames, spreading the fire in two directions.
The flames moved under a large pile of uncut logs, which are used to heat the club, engulfing the wood and a few nearby trees.
“Boy, when it took off, it went,” Greene said.
In his 12 years of running the grounds, Greene has never experienced a fire like the one today.
Plains-Paradise Rural Firefighter Ron King was on scene at the trap club and mentioned this was the first fire the department had responded to since February or March.
The responders suppressed both fires.
*Valley Press reporter Alex Violo contributed to this story.