Dry and windy conditions were not favorable for when a wildfire broke out in the Grafton area on Friday afternoon, just east of Raging Rivers. QEM Fire Protection District Fire Chief Gerry New said they basically just had to let mother nature go to work and let it burn itself out.
The first call came in around 2:15 p.m. on Friday.
The QEM Fire Department was joined by crews from the Brighton, Fieldon, Godfrey, and Jerseyville departments at various stages. Crews worked until dark on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when they had to pull out because of safety issues. The location of the fire made it a challenge. “Most of the area you can’t access them at all because of the terrain and this thing being on the bluffs. A lot of the hillside is just straight up and down,” Chief New said.
He said letting it burn and come to them was about the best they could do.