Flames from Saturday night's blaze on a ridge near Scales Elementary School were seen up to two miles away. Angie Miller photo

Brentwood Home Page news report
A fire on a tall ridge off of Murray Lane across from Scales Elementary School Saturday night turned an exercise in teamwork, as crews from Brentwood, Williamson County and even neighbors worked together to fight the blaze.

“Numerous 911 calls were received from as far as two miles away as flames lit the night sky,” Brentwood Fire Chief Brian Goss said. The first calls came in at 8 p.m.

Photos by Angie Miller

The fire’s location and wind gusts of up to 25 to 35 mile per hour winds combined to make it a difficult fire to fight, Goss said. “Arriving crews attempted multiple access points before reaching a meadow at the base of the ridge.

“The only way to access the two acres involved was to hand carry tools and hoist hoselines up the steep embankment with ropes to the involved area,” Goss told BHP in an email Sunday morning. “We laid out approximately 1500 feet of hose to supply water to the impacted area, all of which had to be hand-carried. Water supply was provided by tankers from Brentwood and Williamson County.”

Goss said a “dozen or so” off-duty Brentwood firefighters responded to a callback to assist with the labor-intensive effort. He added that several local residents who had made their way to the top also assisted in bringing the fire under control through the use of rakes and shovels. Others assisted by providing four-wheel drive vehicles and other off-road vehicles to haul equipment.

The fire was brought under control at approximately 2 a.m. Goss reports that no structures were involved and no one was injured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Murray Estates homeowner Angie Miller learned about the flames when her daughter called just after driving away from their house near Scales to tell her parents that there was a “massive fire across Murray Lane up on top of the ridge.”

“The smoke was thick in the area and friends in Wildwood commented on the strong smoke in their neighborhood as well,” Miller said. “The wind, of course, was blowing heavily which I'm sure wasn't helping the situation. Around 10:30 the flames were gone and it was only smoke billowing from the hillside.