20 agencies respond to help Gun Barrel City firefighters battle 35 acre fire

GUN BARREL CITY, Texas (KLTV) - Gun Barrel City Fire received help from more than 20 agencies Tuesday to fight a fire that burned 35 acres.

The Gun Barrel City Fire Department responded to a grass fire just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, in the 11,000 block of County Road 4006.

In all, 35 acres were burned. Gun Barrel City Assistant Fire Chief Jason Raney said they were on their way to a Van Zandt County fire when they got called back into town.

“We pull up with a tanker and a brush truck and then we had another responder come in one of our engines. We pull up, it was approximately two acres and we get out there with a brush truck and he starts trying to get a knock down but the wind was so bad,” Raney said. “Our chief got on scene and he had us pull the engine down to the fire, which we normally would never carry an engine into a field but the way things were, we had to do something, so we went down in the engine.”

Raney said the fire started during a hay baling operation. More than 20 agencies and 60 first responders assisted Gun Barrel City with the fire, which burned for nearly four hours. Three firefighters were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

“We were doing pretty good but the wind was killing us. It started swirling, changing directions, everything started happening on us,” he said.

They had crews on the road to keep the fire from jumping County Road 4006. Raney said it got to the road but they were able to put it out right away.

“It went from two acres to, I’d say 15 to 20 acres, like really quick. We finally started getting help, there was departments, everybody was out on fire,” he said. “Some of them left their fires, when they got released, they were able to come help us. So we ended up having a lot of help there.”

Raney said that while all hay balers carry fire extinguishers, in conditions like this fires can get out of hand quickly. He advises not hay baling during burn bans if you can.

The three firefighters who were treated for smoke inhalation were released from the hospital on Wednesday.

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