SAN LEON — An eight-alarm sage brush fire, fueled by extreme drought conditions, burned about 30 acres Thursday before firefighters gained control.
Firefighters were called shortly after 2 p.m. to 21st Street in San Leon and found smoke billowing and flames spreading from a 20-acre blaze.
At least eight other agencies from as far away as Alvin assisted San Leon, and people who worked or lived nearby volunteered their earth-moving equipment, cutting fire breaks with backhoes.
A prevailing 14-mph wind from the south whipped the flames at 3 p.m., but firefighters, who used brush trucks and the terrain to their advantage, had the blaze under control shortly before 4 p.m.
Two firefighters were overcome by heat exhaustion, but their injuries weren’t believed to be life-threatening.
The period between May 1 and July 29 is recorded as the eighth driest for that time frame in Galveston County since records were first kept in Galveston in the 1800s, Mark Keehn, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in League City, said.
“This is still considered an extreme drought,” Keehn said, noting conditions are highly favorable for grass fires.
Daily News photographer Kevin M. Cox contributed to this report.
