A large grass fire in Lake City, near Mathis, proved destructive but no one was injured Wednesday afternoon.
The fire in the 100 block of Bayview Dr. was reported at 2:39 p.m., said San Patricio County Sherriff Oscar Rivera.
The San Patricio County Fire Marshal said one home was completely wiped out with several smaller structures destroyed.
"I was at H-E-B buying groceries and that's not a phone call you want to get," Lacee Harper said, her family owned the trailer that was destroyed. "Whether you’re in the house, own the house, whatever it’s just not something you want to hear that anything is on fire."
Harper's friend Laney Seachord was nearby when the fire broke out. She's the one who gave her the call.
"When she called me to say there was a fire across the street it was like what, a five minute difference between that first phone call and the second one saying it’s gone," said Harper."
The fire marshal said it moved fast because of the strong winds and how much dead grass was around.
"The freeze and the cold snap created a lot of kindling, which is this dry grass it’s very brittle and very easily ignitable," Steven Loving said county fire marshal.
Loving said they don't know how the fire started, but he's urging residents to pay close attention to their property and be careful.
"Folks even with these dry vegetation, even something as simple as mowing your lawn," Loving said. "If you hit a brick, you hit a piece of metal it could make a very small spark and very quickly this dry vegetation, its going to take off."
Several area fire departments had to come to the aid of Lake City. On scene were departments from Mathis, Sandia, Orange Grove, George West, Swinney Switch, Skidmore, Papalote, Beeville, and Tynan. He applauded them for getting the fire under control and preventing further damage.
"They did a fabulous job containing it with what they had today," he said. "I cannot commend those guys enough about how hard everyone of them worked today, to ensure that no other structure, there's multiple other structures. They did a fabulous job of keeping it from those other structures."
He added the county will issue no burn days for Thursday and Friday. Wednesday was also a no burn day.
The American Red Cross has been notified to assist.
