Two brush fires were reported on Thursday as dry and breezy conditions prevailed in Indiana County once again.
The first was a fire on Gorman Avenue in White Township at 4:24 PM. Indiana Fire Association was dispatched for that. The second incident was a major brush fire that was reported by Indiana County 911 three minutes later on Maple Street in Conemaugh Township. Tunnelton and Saltsburg fire departments were initially dispatched at 4:27 PM, but over the next half-hour, crews from Iselin/West Lebanon, Coal Run, New Alex, Slickville, Blairsville, Homer City, Altman, Black Lick and Coral fire departments were called to the scene along with the HAZMAT team.
Officials with Tunnelton fire department said between four-and-a-half to five acres of land burned in the fire. The fire started with a spark from a small brush pile. A large area of the blaze was on a hillside, and they had to use side-by-side ATVs to access the fire zone. Officials also said it could have bene much worse, but the wind died down and it allowed crews to put it out. Crews were on the scene for a few hours.
This brings the total number of brush fires this year in Indiana County to 42.
Crews were also called out for two automatic fire alarm activations, one in Indiana Borough and the other in Burrell Township earlier in the day. And a structure fire was reported on Kentucky Avenue at 11:25 last night. Cherry Tree and Commodore fire departments were sent to help other firefighters.
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