Eight area fire departments were called for a grass fire about 2 miles southwest of Manning Sunday afternoon. Lynn Gaskill, Irwin Fire Chief, said a nearby resident in the area started a fire on Saturday. He said somebody had been burning on Saturday and evidently there was a log or something still burning and the wind kicked up on Sunday afternoon.

The fire continued down the big river and went all the way up within a half mile of Highway 141 so it probably traveled for a mile. The eight fire departments including Dedham, Halbur, Manning, Manilla, Westside, Irwin, Defiance and one unknown, were called around 3:30pm Sunday. Gaskill says a few campers, who were staying at the Great Western Park south of Manning had to be evacuated.

The departments worked for 2 hours extinguishing the fire. No injuries were reported and no structures were damaged.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)