Virgil Fire Knocks Out Grass Fire – Property Owner Unaware of Burn Ban

Early Thursday evening, April 17th, Virgil Fire responded to a grass fire on Route 215 near the Virgil/Cortlandville Town line. Virgil Fire says firefighters were able to knock out the burning grass before it made it to the nearby tree line. The property owner informed firefighters that they were unaware of the state-wide burn ban in effect.

The New York State Burn Ban remains in effect through May 14th.

Virgil Fire says conditions remain extremely dry and if there were a stronger breeze the situation may have been much worse.

“The owners did have a water can but were not able to extinguish the fire without our assistance and had it burned uncontrolled another couple of minutes it may have become a much harder fire to contain.” Virgil Fire Chief Adam Brown said in a release.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was additionally called to the scene to speak with the property owner. Firefighters were cleared from the scene just before 5:40 in the evening.