Man fined after East End fire burns 5 acres of land

EAST END, AR - A grass fire in East End had seven different fire departments battling flames in record heat. More than five acres burned and two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.

The fire department has the sign up for everyone to see: “Burn ban in effect. No fireworks.” That means no burning, but that's exactly what happened this afternoon.

It all started from a pile of bamboo in Raymond Isham’s backyard off East Sawmill Road. He told his 15-year-old nephew to burn a small portion of the bamboo but due to the hot dry conditions that small pile quickly spread to the nearby woods, singeing the trees and sending smoke high into the sky.

Isham said, "I told him take a portion of it and burn it and what does he do? He takes the whole bushel and sets it on fire."

It took firefighters from seven different departments to extinguish the flames. At one point they thought they had the fire out, but a hot spot flared up again and the fire took off.

Cpt. Chris Crane with the East End Fire Department said, "We had a couple of firefighters suffer heat exhaustion so that's why MEMS is here to help them."

Isham says he has no idea about the burn ban.

"I'm learning the hard way," he says.

But firefighters say that's no excuse.

"There's signs up all over the community,” Crane says. “It's all over the internet. There's no reason no one should know."

Now Isham is facing an $1,100 fine.

"I don't know how I’m going to pay it,” he says. “You tell me how I’m supposed to pay it? I'm on a fixed income."

Despite all the warnings, firefighters say situations like this put everyone in danger and all they ask is for people to pay attention.

Unfortunately this isn't the only fire the East End Fire Department dealt with today. They had three other calls for wood fires.

Besides the two firefighters suffering from heat exhaustion, there were no other injuries.