BRAYMER, Mo. — Fire crews from 15 different communities converged to battle a grass fire that quickly spread across parts of Caldwell County on Thursday afternoon.
The fire started near the intersection of E Highway and Black Oak Road near Braymer, northeast of Kansas City. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the blaze covered only around a quarter of an acre. But that small fire soon exploded in the warm, dry conditions – eventually covering almost 500 acres, and forcing the evacuation of several nearby homes.
There were no injuries in the fire, and no reported loss of property or livestock. Evacuated residents were allowed to return home by Thursday night.
Authorities on the scene say that they are glad that things didn’t get worse.
“We never lost any structures, or we haven’t lost any lives or any livestock, so we’re real fortunate,” said Chief Deputy Bob Guffey of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Department.
The Red Cross provided on-scene assistance to those evacuated from the fire.