Firefighters battle flames, gusty winds at northwest Harris Co. grass fire

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Firefighters spent a chunk of Christmas evening fighting a large grass fire in northwest Harris County, and the gusty winds made the battle more difficult.

The fire broke out shortly before 5pm Tuesday in a grassy area off Clay Road near Katy Hockley Road.

Firefighters from the Katy Fire Department and the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene with a bulldozer to battle the blaze, but the fire had an ally Tuesday night -- gusty winds. Gusty winds can delay firefighters' abilities to contain fires.

"It ran the fire south of us for a while but we were able to contain it," Cy-Fair VFD Chief J.C. Marshall said of the winds. "It got down close to a couple homes on the south side, but they were able to make a stop on it."

The fire had spread to 160 acres before it was completely contained around 6:30pm.

The biggest concern for firefighters had been protecting nearby homes, and thankfully, none were damaged.

No injuries were reported in the fire, but its cause has yet to be determined.

An investigation is underway.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Firefighters battle grass fire in SE Houston

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Authorities still don't know what started a stubborn grass fire in southeast Houston that sent two firefighters to a hospital.

The fire was reported near the eastbound Beltway 8 feeder road at S. Wayside in southeast Houston shortly after 12pm. Up to 200 firefighters from Friendswood, Brookside and Pearland helped the Houston Fire Department gain control over the blaze, which covered about 200 acres. Cy-Fair Fire Department also provided bulldozers, a DPS helicopter helped authorities get a look at the fire and a Texas Forest Service helicopter did water drops.

Two firefighters were taken to a hospital because of the smoke and heat, but their conditions weren't immediately known.

The feeder road was closed to traffic in the area, diverting vehicles onto the main lanes of Beltway 8.

A spokesperson for the Houston Airport System says no flights at Hobby Airport are affected by the smoke.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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NASA test sparks grass fire

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We've learned that NASA's testing of this vehicle is what caused the large grass fire at the Johnson Space Center. This incident raises a lot of questions about how NASA conducts these tests, especially during such dry conditions.

Wednesday's project involved a test firing of Morpheus, a NASA lander still in development; but with drought conditions still prevailing, it quickly turned into project grassfire. A 10-15-acre grassfire sparked by a NASA test rocket came within 150 yards of Katy Taylor's Clear Lake home. "I was amazed. I thought that it was going to take in our houses because it was so close," Taylor said. Taylor has lived on the other side of Johnson Space Center's fence for 10 years but what happened on Wednesday was a first. "This big, white, grayish cloud of smoke was coming up," she said. A May 4 test in the same location went as planned. Morpheus is a NASA-designed vehicle large enough to carry as much as 1,100 pounds of equipment to the moon. But on Wednesday, its thrusters ignited dried grass overtaken by drought conditions. While burn bans are in place in county areas, Clear Lake isn't under one. "We knew there was a possibility that a grass fire would start and we had fire personnel on site with us watching it and just were ready to call for help if we needed it," NASA Spokeswoman Brandy Dean said. Fire personnel present were inadequate and ill-equipped, and six different surrounding city fire departments were called in. "Their fire specialists generally just have fire extinguishers," said Houston Fire Department District Chief Valerie Seymour. "They don't have fire trucks. They usually use us for that." NASA says they are planning another test run for Morpheus but have not yet decided on a date. "They should've wet it down first if they were gonna do that," Taylor said. Houston Fire Station No. 7 says they were notified about the test firing but weren't on site when it took place. Luckily, they were able to respond quickly. NASA also got lucky that Morpheus didn't sustain any damage. No injuries were reported from the fire.

If you caught photos or video of this fire, you can upload them at iWitness.abc13.com or email them to news@abc13.com.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Local grass fires prompt evacuation, fast responses

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Proof of the high fire danger in our area: firefighters were busy with at least three grass fires Saturday.

A mobile home community was evacuated as firefighters battled a grass fire near the banks of Willow Creek and F.M. 2920 in the Tomball area of northwest Harris County.

Tomball firefighters and other area departments arrived at the fire around 2pm and elected to evacuate a mobile home park off Sugarberry Way as a precaution.

Officials were still battling the flames into the night. It destroyed several acres near the Inverness Estates subdivision, but no homes were damaged. It was unknown if the evacuated residents were allowed to return home Saturday.

That was the second grass fire Harris County officials had to deal with Saturday.

The first was a grass and woods fire on Moonshine Hill Rd. in Humble near F.M. 1960 East.

Crews from several local agencies were called to the fire around 1pm. They got it under control within a couple hours.

Officials said that fire burned between an acre and an acre and a half of land.

Another grass fire broke out around 8pm on Old Galveston Rd. in the Clear Lake area.

The bulk of that fire was knocked down quickly, officials said. It was close to an apartment complex, but authorities said the nearby buildings were not in danger.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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