Brush pile fire doused

The Yuma Fire Department extinguished a brush fire near an apartment complex Friday evening. No injuries were reported.

The fire began at about 5:45 p.m. in a vacant lot in the 2300 block of South 34th Drive when a large pile of brush ignited. Several other large piles of brush were stacked up nearby.

When two engines with YFD responded to the scene, “the brush pile was pretty much fully involved, so our main objective was ... to keep it from spreading,” said Jeff Bird, acting YFD captain at the scene.

The blaze created a large plume of smoke that could be seen from miles away. Firefighters on foot approached the blaze from upwind to avoid the smoke and began applying water to the large pile of burning brush. Nearby, a firefighter on top of a fire engine laid down a swath of water from a high-powered hose.

Once the flames were extinguished, a bulldozer with the city of Yuma flattened the pile and the firefighters applied a thick layer of foam to ensure the hot spots were completely doused.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No other details were available as of press time Friday.