Investigation also underway for structure fire in Redwood

(Guadalupe county) — Guadalupe County fire crews battled a house fire Wednesday night after flames spread from a burn barrel to a nearby home and garage in McQueeney.

Patrick Pinder, Guadalupe County fire and emergency management coordinator, says the incident was reported at 8:30 p.m. in the 400 block of Woodcreek Circle.

“The fire began in a burn barrel. We had a resident in the community who was burning in a barrel and the fire got out of control and then spread to adjacent structures which was the house and the garage area,” said Pinder.

Lake Dunlap, McQueeney and Guadalupe County Fire Rescue units all responded to the blaze.

Pinder says the fire broke out the same day Guadalupe County officials enacted a burn ban for the unincorporated areas of the county. While the order restricts most outdoor burning, Pinder says some limited burning is still permitted.

“So, with the burn ban, you are still able to burn your household trash in a barrel covered with a grate. That barrel did not have a grate on top so the contents of the barrel obviously extended past the barrel and caught the adjacent vegetation on fire and then spread to the home so moving in that direction with the dryness that we have had, if you are going to burn in a barrel because you are allowed to, we urge caution. We urge folks to maintain a safe distance from any kind of structures and make sure that they cut the vegetation back and maintain a visual on the burn barrel and always have a water source available. Outside of that, we are going to have residents that are going to want to reach out to our office and burn other things. We do issue burn permits for special things. Agriculture is another thing that is allowable during the burn ban, so we do a case-by-case basis on that. You have to go online to submit applications for that. But right now, it’s so dry out there that we aren’t really approving too many permits that don’t meet the requirements,” said Pinder.

The Wednesday blaze followed another recent house fire in Guadalupe County. Last week, fire crews responded to a call on Columbia Circle in the Redwood area. Pinder says the fire started on the home’s front porch before spreading into the walls and attic. By the time firefighters arrived, they were unable to save the living area. Pinder says heavy smoke and water damage also extended throughout the rest of the home, including the bedrooms.

The cause of that fire remains under investigation.