A burning couch on a trash pile was the cause of a field fire Tuesday at a property on U.S. Route 50 near Hoagland.
Firefighters with Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District were able to douse the blaze within 10-15 minutes of arrival, but only after the fire had burned a large area of grass behind a home.
A man who said he lives on the property said he was burning trash and a couch when the wind picked up some ashes, igniting a nearby field of grass.
The man said he was burning some trash around the same time last year, resulting in a field fire in the same area.
As reported at the time, that fire occurred in February 2017.
Paint Creek Chief Dave Manning said while recent rain left the ground soggy in some areas, dry and windy conditions in the past few days have dried out vegetation.
“People need to understand that while the ground is wet, grass and brush is dry, and it burns easily,” he said.
As a case in point, after firefighters contained the flames, the district’s field fire truck became stuck in the muddy field.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources prohibits open fires in the months of March, April, May, October, and November between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Burning trash is always prohibited, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and doing so can result in penalties.
No further information on the fire was immediately available.
Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.
