Firefighters from the Howard County Volunteer Fire Department, Big Spring Fire Department and Borden County Volunteer Fire Department were called to a home in northern Vincent, approximately two miles from the Howard County line on FM 1205, just before 4 p.m., according to HCVFD Chief Tommy Sullivan.

“I was in Coahoma when the call came in, and even from there we could see the smoke,” said Sullivan. “So the fire had already auto-ventilated by that point and was fully involved. In a situation like that, there's just no way to save the home itself.”

Firefighters from all three agencies arrived on the scene quickly, according to Sullivan.

“With a fire like this, you need a group effort, and that's just what we got,” said Sullivan. “We were able to release the city fire engine back to city once we loaded its water onto one of the county trucks. Everyone involved did a good job.”

Sullivan said the home was not occupied at the time.

“The owner of the home had recently moved into town, so it was vacant,” said Sullivan. “Also, there weren't any structures nearby, just some old, abandoned automobiles. So the fire wasn't threatening any other structures.

“However, when you have a structure fire in such an open area like that, there's a good chance it will spawn a wildfire. Once the house was engulfed and a total loss, we had to turn our attention to keeping it contained, which the firefighters did a great job of.”

The home was destroyed, according to Sullivan.

“The roof had already come down by the time we got there,” said Sullivan. “The home was a total loss. There wasn't anything we could do to stop that.”

Sullivan said Borden County officials will be investigating the cause of the fire, but a preliminary investigation ruled out arson.

“The home had metal bars on the windows and doors, and they were still intact when the fire began,” said Sullivan. “We were able to rule out arson as a result of that. Most likely, with an old, unoccupied home like that, it's going to be an electrical short. You can have mice and rats chewing on wiring, and while there were no gas utilities going to the home, there was electrical service there. The Borden County fire officials will investigate the fire and make an officials ruling on the cause.”

Sullivan said no injuries were reported.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it