Grass fire burns several acres near Coffield Unit

By BETH FOLEY
The Palestine Herald

July 20, 2008 01:06 am

— Three Anderson County volunteer fire departments battled an intense grass fire that burned several acres near the Coffield Prison Unit Saturday afternoon.
Volunteer firefighters from Westside, Tennessee Colony and Montalba VFDs coordinated efforts to control and extinguish a grass fire which began around 2:30 p.m. Saturday in a hay field near the prison.
Westside chief Kyle Betterton said that firefighters worked in conjunction with prison officials and inmates to put out the blaze, which began when a tractor-baler accidentally sparked cut-over hay.
“The fire was really intense at the beginning,” said Betterton, who was out of town during the fire and in touch with fire crews by phone. “Controlling it was pretty intense at the beginning until the other departments arrived to assist.”
Westside alone used 1,800 gallons of water and foam to fight the fire, he said, adding that prison officials acted quickly to keep the prison population safe and worked well with the firefighters to put out the fire.
“TDCJ did an exceptional job in helping,” Betterton said. “They had inmates on tractors with plows helping with the fire line.
“The prison was not in any danger,” he added. “The way the fire was traveling, it could have gotten hairy quickly.”