By Lyonel Doherty
Lady Luck dealt Oliver firefighters a winning hand this afternoon in a grass fire that could have been a real firestorm.
Crews were called to 1418 Fairview Road, just west of Sumac Street, where a plume of smoke was growing bigger by the second.
Fire Chief Bob Graham was first on scene and called for two fire trucks to get there “quickly.”
As firefighters were setting up hoses, the fire was burning dry grass, with the wind pushing it towards the road as opposed to up the hill.
Graham said if the wind was blowing the other way, the fire would have been well on its way to Willowbrook.
Deputy Chief Bryon Somerville said they were extremely lucky that the wind was on their side.
Passerby David Perehudoff stopped and grabbed a shovel from a property owner and started digging a guard where the fire was heading down the hill. He managed to stop the fire from spreading east in that section.
Firefighters managed to contain the fire to an area less than one-quarter of an acre.
Graham said he didn’t know what caused the blaze, but a hand-held grinder was located on the ground across the fence on the property.
The fire has since been totally extinguished.
