by Steve Alexander
Published: Tue, April 15, 2008 - 8:25 pm CST
A woods fire in South Mobile Tuesday afternoon forced two people to grab hoses to save their homes.The fire started as a controlled burn near Ninth Street and Michigan Avenue in Alabama Port, but wind quickly spread embers from block to block.
Yano Serra was one of the people who grabbed a fire hose and helped firefighters fight the blaze before it reached his home.
Serra said, "I wanted to stop it before it got to my house because if it got so close to the house, you won't be able to do nothing because you couldn't get a truck back there to put the water on it."
Anthony Roberson lives next door to Serra.
He said, "I seen it (the fire) jump the road, and I said, 'Oh, its coming for my house.' So I just got the water hose and called the fire department."
Both Serra and Roberson's homes were saved, but the fire did destroy a tractor and an abandoned camper.
Chief Pat Burns with the Alabama Port Volunteer Fire Department said, "Everything looked good this morning when they set it (the controlled burn) off and we checked it and, all of a sudden, the wind picks up and drops it (a spark) off somewhere else."
Alabama forestry officials also joined in the fight, using bulldozers to create fire breaks.
James Wade with the Alabama Forestry Commission said, "We have to set a fire and let it advance toward the oncoming fire and that'll widen the fire break and give us a bigger buffer zone when the fire gets here to help stop the fire from crossing the break."
The fire was brought under control after a few hours and no one was hurt.
There's no word on exactly how many acres burned.
The Alabama Forestry Commission posts fire alerts, and provides information on burn permits. Just click here.
Fire Officials Keeping Vigil In Bayou La Batre
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