TRYON– Following major fires in Columbus on Friday afternoon that continued to rekindle over the weekend and Monday, the Tryon Fire Department was called to a woods fire along New Market Road Sunday night, Nov. 20 that burned about one acre.

Tryon Fire Chief Joey Davis said Tryon, Saluda and the N.C. Forest Service were dispatched to a reported brush fire near the 1500 block of New Market Road just before 9 p.m. Sunday.

Davis said units who first arrived reported a very fast moving fire and requested additional assistance from Columbus and Landrum fire departments.

Tryon is currently running on an automatic two-department dispatch along with the forest service on all possible brush and woods fires, Davis said. Tryon was assisting Columbus fire on Sunday with a rekindle of the I-26 fire from Friday, Nov. 18.

Davis said the New Market Road fire consumed approximately one acre with no homes damaged and no injuries reported. There were several homes threatened during the fire.

Davis said because of the fuel load in the area of New Market, the Tryon Fire Department and the N.C. Forestry Service planned to do a back burn in the area on Monday, Nov. 21, depending on the winds.

“We are appreciative of all those who assisted us on this fire,” Davis said. “With no end in sight to the drought conditions, unfortunately, these fires may become commonplace. Anything could cause these types of fires – discarded cigarettes, burning when a burning ban remains in effect, dumping ashes from a fireplace, etc.

“We urge everyone to use extreme caution during this time. We are very fortunate that this fire was able to be contained so quickly and only consumed one acre, compared to the larger fire we experienced in Columbus a few days ago as well as the Party Rock fire that we’ve been assisting on.”

Both the fires at I-26 in Columbus on Nov. 18 and the New Market Road fire in Tryon are still under investigation as to the causes.