Fire torches hundreds of acres at Ansley
By Dwayne Bremer
Mar 19, 2013, 17:54
A large woods fire torched hundreds of acres of land in the Ansley community this weekend.
Hancock County Fire Marshal Brian Adam said Monday that the fire apparently began on Friday and was not extinguished until late Saturday afternoon.
The fire was aided by high winds and spread quickly through the dense, wooded area of Ansley and Heron Bay.
Several homes were in the path of the fire, but luckily, no structures were damaged and nobody was injured, officials said.
Adam said the West Hancock, Bayside, Clermont, and St. Tammany fire departments all combined to battle the blaze.
"It was one of the bigger fires we have seen in a few years," Adam said.
"We want to thank all of the volunteers for their long hours of work getting this fire under control."
Adam said the cause of the blaze is unknown, but he dispelled a rumor that the fire was started when a control burn in the buffer zone got out of control.
"We have no evidence that it was caused by the control burn," he said.
Adam said he believes "several hundred" acres of land were affected during the blaze.
Adam said the Mississippi Forestry Commission and state fire marshal's office will be investigating the blaze over the next week.
