Grass Fire Spreads to House in Crawford County

A Crawford County home was damaged Tuesday afternoon when a grass fire spread in the 1500 block of Old Union Town Road north of Van Buren.

“I was worried they weren’t gonna get here in time,” said Becky Jansen, an eyewitness.

Jansen grew up in the house. She watched as flames melted siding and charred the frame. “Within five minutes it was way over here in the yard. The wind was blowing you know so it didn’t take it long,” said Jansen.

Investigators say the fire started by the road then quickly spread to the home causing an estimated thousands of dollars in damage. “You don’t know where it’s gonna go, what it’s gonna do and you can’t go over there and just put it out,” said Colton Sheppard, a neighbor.

The house was vacant, according to Chief Dale Ingle with the Crawford County District 5 Volunteer Fire Department.

Ingle says they are still not sure how the fire started. Battling flames in triple digit temperatures is not easy. “I feel like about 140 right now,” said Ingle.

Despite the heat, Ingle confirmed no one was injured. He said people should not be burning. “You can see across the street green grass does burn,” said Ingle.

Jansen hopes to save old pictures still inside the home. She said, “There’s nothing valuable in there, just memories.”

The county judge reinstated the county burn ban Tuesday afternoon.