Two grass fires erupt about the same time west of Turlock, scorching fields

Separate grass fires about three miles apart west of Turlock kept fire crews busy Wednesday afternoon.

Keyes Fire Protection District had sent a water tender and a fire truck to help Mountain View firefighters with a blaze on Bliss Road, when another fire was reported just before 3 p.m. in Keyes’ own area near Moffett and E. Tuolumne roads.

The latter grew to seven acres and threatened an orchard and a barn – singed a corner of it, actually – so more units from the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District and the Ceres and Modesto fire departments rushed to help. The Turlock Irrigation District flooded part of a field to help contain the fire, Keyes fire Chief Erik Klevmyr said.

Fire investigators are looking into the causes of both.

This story was originally published May 17, 2017 at 9:24 PM with the headline "Two grass fires erupt about the same time west of Turlock, scorching fields."