Firefighters rushed to a field outside Clearfield when a brush fire kicked off today, as neighbors watched in fear that it could spread to their homes.

The firefighters were battling very windy conditions as they responded to a brush fire this morning.

“Probably have about 25 mile-per-hour winds gusting to 40 miles per hour. It’s really hard to stop these fires,” says DCNR forestry patrolman and public information officer Larry Bickel.

It happened around 11 a.m. on Flood Road near the Clearfield-Glen Richey Highway.

The fire fight got off to a rough start when firefighters say Glen Richey Deputy Chief Larry Welch tripped and cut his face. Another fireman took over command.

“He just fell over a hose when he was in the field,” says Hyde firefighter/township supervisor Larry Powell.

“I had just gone out to get the mail and a police officer went by with the lights flashing and the sirens going and I looked behind our house and there was smoke,” says neighbor Janice Graham.

“Right now, we’re in the area where i believe the fire could have possibly started,” says DCNR patrolman and fire investgator Jeremy Hamilton.

Hamilton marked off the area on Flood Road with flags, as others were at the 18 Hollow Road side.

“It made me think of what I might take out of the house,” says neighbor Kathleen Bressler.

Bressler lives nearby and wondered if she’d have to evacuate.

“Just grabbing our wallets and stuff like that. You wouldn’t have a chance to do too much, and get our cats out if we could,” says Bressler.

“The tree line buffer that’s on the other side actually helped suppress a lot of the fire for us,” says Hamilton.

“Very windy, very poor day to be burning, doing anything. You’re liable for any fires you set like this. This is a suspicious fire, I believe,” says Powell. “If you’re caught, you’re gonna pay a lot of money out for all this equipment we needed to call out here today to battle this fire.”

“I please ask all people: don’t burn today,” says Bickel.

Meantime, an Exco Energy employee said they have three natural gas wells nearby and came to shut them off as a precaution.

Firefighters say the mild winter was also a factor.

“All the fuels are still lofted, so the fire’s able to get in and burn it more complete and a lot faster than it typically would at this time of year,” says Hamilton.

The DCNR employees we talked to say the fire burned at least 15 acres and they’ll be investigating the cause. It was out in about an hour.