160 Acres Charred near Bethel

News9.com

SHAWNEE, Oklahoma -- Crews from five departments battled a grassfire near Bethel Saturday afternoon.

It burned 160 acres and charred one vacant mobile home. But firefighters said it could have been much worse. If the flames had jumped the road, eight homes would have been in danger.

"You can't outrun fire when you've got 35 mph wind. We're very fortunate the guys got in front of this one today just in time to stop it before it got too far ahead of us," Shawnee Fire Bat. Chief Kurt Lamastus said.

Investigators are still trying to figure out how the fire started, but they've have been trying to get to the bottom of several arson cases over the last few weeks.