A grass fire in Palo Pinto County that destroyed five homes was started in large part by an open trash container.
On July 18th, a wind gust blew the lid off of a trash container near FM 1148 and Hawkins Rd.
Inside that container was party trash consisting of glass bottles, paper goods and food.
That meant all three elements needed to start a fire were present -- oxygen, heat and fuel.
"We had the oxygen from the wind, we had the heat from the sun bearing down through the bottles, and the fuel was the party paper, plates and napkins and food," says Bonnie Watkins, chief of the Possum Kingdom West Volunteer Fire Dept.
The intense sun magnified through the glass bottles until it reached ignition temperature and set the rest of the trash inside on fire.
From there, the fire spread rapidly and burned for seven days, charring 500 acres.
"We lost five homes, unfortunately, and a few outbuildings," says Chief Watkins. "I'm so sorry we lost those five houses, but we could not stop that fire rolling down that hill."
No one was hurt during the fire.
Watkins says while the fire was purely accidental, just doing one small task could have prevented the whole thing.
"Had they done something as simple as put a good sized rock on that thing to keep it from blowing open, that fire never would have occurred," says Watkins.
Separating the trash would have also helped.
"If the bottles were all put in one trash can and the paper and food stuff all in another, they would eliminate that ignition source of the sun beating down through those bottles and magnifying until it hit ignition temperature," Watkins says.
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