La Grulla fire draws a crowd

NORTH OF LA GRULLA — It took 18 fire departments and a fortuitous shift in the weather to bring a fire under control in eastern Starr County on Thursday night.

The blaze, which started just before 7 p.m., stretched for three miles and burned about 1,000 acres, said Starr County's emergency management coordinator, Gene Falcon.

"All the surrounding cities have been wonderful to help us out in these times of fires," Falcon said Friday. The last departments from Hidalgo County left the scene about 3 a.m. Friday, and all the hot spots were extinguished by then, he said.

Flames came dangerously close to several homes in La Paloma neighborhood, just north of Expressway 83, but no structures were destroyed, Falcon said.

"We had some close calls there on a bunch of houses," said Tony Peña, Hidalgo County's emergency management coordinator, who joined his county's fire teams at the command center. "Really close calls - like 20 yards."

The fire was under control by midnight, but only because Mother Nature gave fire crews a break.

"We're really lucky the wind died down," Falcon said.

Investigators suspect the fire was sparked by a resident violating the county's burn ban to incinerate garbage, but Falcon said they can't prove it yet.

Meanwhile, he asks residents to keep their lawns mowed and move dry brush away from their homes to reduce the fuel sources available for future fires.

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Sara Perkins covers Mission, western Hidalgo County, Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4472.