Fire danger

KVUE's Shelton Green reports

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A series of brush and grass fires throughout Central Texas on Tuesday has the Texas Forest Service warning that it may only be the beginning.

"We had a very bad fire season that winter between '05 and '06 and the trend is identical -- almost identical to what we were seeing in '05," said Lexie Maxwell, Texas Forest Service.

There were at least three separate grass and brush fires in Bastrop County alone on Tuesday, all of which are still under investigation.

The largest was outside of Manor when a haymaker struck a rock and sparked an 80-acre fire.

Then down the road in Paige, outside of Elgin, a car that pulled onto the shoulder off of Highway 290 sparked a five acre grass fire which moved quickly, thanks to winds gusting up to 30 miles an hour.

"They were able to stop it at five acres. They were very lucky today with these extreme dry conditions and high winds," Maxwell said.

Central Texans may see a temporary reprieve from high winds on Wednesday, but that may change toward the end of the week.

"People just need to be very, very careful with smoking materials, with outdoor cooking, if they're welding outside and especially if they're going to be driving off the road onto dry grass, don't park on the side of the road," said Maxwell.