Two acres were ravished along with 30 vehicles and a vacant mobile home. But the families were not in the immediate area and all parties were accounted for.

“At about 3:45 p.m. we received a call about a grass fire on Brewster Road and Moores Mill Road,” said Leroy Varguas, Temple Fire and Recue Training Captain and Safety Officer for the incident. “The first unit said they had heavy smoke showing, and the smoke was visible for about three miles.”

The firefighters activated a one-alarm structure fire. Five engine companies, two booster trucks, one safety officer, one support unit and one fire incident commander responded to the fire.

Temple Fire and Rescue also had help from representatives from the Moffat Volunteer Fire Department, the Troy Volunteer Fire Department, the Rogers Volunteer Fire Department, Bell County Fire Marshal Steve Casey and Scott & White EMS.

Temple police and the Bell County Sheriff’s Department also blocked off surrounding streets to secure the area.

But despite all of the help, one firefighter had to be taken to Scott & White Memorial Hospital for heat exhaustion.

“An issue we had was the heat and keeping our firefighters hydrated,” Varguas said. “We set up a rehab sector, where we gave them Gatorade and water. We were trying to rotate them as best we could.”

But there wasn’t just a hydration problem for the firefighters; the stations had trouble battling the flames being so far away from a water source.

“We were in a remote location and didn’t have immediate access to the fire hydrants,” Varguas said. “So water had to be carried to our site to the Moffat and Troy tankers.”

The engines on scene had to carry 500 to 700 gallons of water to the tankers in order to fill them with flame-fighting power. But the problem was even that large amount of water didn’t last very long in 100 degree weather and even hotter fire temperatures.

The lack of water supply isn’t something Temple Fire and Rescue is used to dealing with.

“It is rare for us,” Varguas said. “We’re used to having an unlimited supply when we need it.”

However, he said the units all worked together and put the fire out relatively quickly.

“It was just a great effort by the responding units,” he said. “They made a very aggressive attack and were very successful.”

The fire is still under investigation, but Varguas believes the fire was probably started by a burn barrel left unattended.