Oakwood VFD fights grass fire

All of Leon County has been under a burn ban due to the drought situation. With notices posted at the VFD and City Hall the Oakwood Volunteer Fire Department had hoped to stop everyone from burning anything unless in a barrel.

The 911 system, connected to the A&M alert system sent out calls to all of the residents in Leon County with registered 911 addresses. Surely this would take care of anyone who didn't happen to notice the signs. Wrong.

Some residents of Houston, with a weekend place down 831 in Oakwood, had not passed by the signs driving into town and had not been in Oakwood to receive the phone alert. While burning off a section of a field, their fire quickly became out of control. After calling 911, the Oakwood Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to tame the flames. The VFD was able to put out the fire fairly quickly. Due to their quick response, there were no injuries or loss of property. The only damage was to a small thicket of trees at the edge of the field.

Oakwood VFD hopes that this will be an exception and not the start of a pattern this summer. They hope people will be safe when burning and will either check the posted signs or pick up the phone and make sure of the burn ban status before striking a match to anything outdoors. These people were lucky...this time.