Brush fire burns near Van Zyverden road; no injuries reported

Published 4:02 pm Monday, January 9, 2017

Firefighters found no known cause or origin of a brush fire Monday that burned a few acres of a field on Van Zyverden Road in Meridian. 

The fire burned from approximately 1 p.m. until 1:45 p.m., in a field across from Eastwood Street.

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Cows grazed in the field yards from the charred grass but officials reported no injuries or burned structures.

According to Meridian Battalion Chief James “Jimmy” Stockton, one of the first responders, a neighbor taking down Christmas lights reported the fire.

“The cause and origin are still unknown,” Jason Collier, the Meridian fire marshall, said. “It looks to me like a couple of acres burned.”

Collier said that the city called for assistance from volunteers at Northeast Fire Service and Marion because they have smaller brush trucks.

“Access to it was a factor,” Collier said, on why the fire departments had difficulty responding.

The muddy field made navigating the bigger fire apparatuses difficult and some entrances to the field were locked. 

“The wind blowing was another factor,” Collier said. “It was blowing pretty hard when we got here.”

Susan Bass, whose father leases the land, said they used it for their beef cows and had leased the land for decades. She did not know if they would file an insurance claim.