Two major fires caused damage in Bent County last week on successive days.
On Thursday, a garage at the John Branaman home caught on fire around noon.
The structure — and a vehicle inside — were destroyed but quick acting firemen from Las Animas kept the fire from spreading to a dry field to the east.
Ginny Freed, who lives across the street from the Branaman residence, said she spotted the fire as she drove home for lunch that day.
“When I passed through the trees at Second and Maple my eyes got real big and I saw the back of their garage was on fire,” Freed said Monday morning.
Because her home was north of the fire and the strong winds were from the west, she was not concerned about it spreading to her side of the street. Freed said that no smoke got into her home.
A fire truck used for grass fires was positioned east of the fire to keep sparks from igniting the dry and grass and weeds in the adjacent field.
A day later a fire of undetermined origin flared up south of Higway 50 east of Las Animas.
People driving to the playoff games in Lamar around 3 p.m. could see ;the grass fire blazing more than a half mile south of the highway.
Fire fighters from Las Animas and Hasty – McClave fire departments successfully kept the fire contained despite strong southerly winds.
The Friday grass fire charred about 500 acres, said Jonathan Kindell, spokesman for the Las Animas volunteer fire department.
Kindell said the grass fire was contained between Road JJ and U. S. Highway 50 and county roads 17 and 18.
Kindell said Monday the cause of both fires was still undetermined.
Las Animas, Colo. —
