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'It can always get out of hand': County officials advise against outdoor burns into the weekend

In seven days, 38 brush fires ignited in Bexar County. Continued dry conditions present the perfect recipe for more this weekend.

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — Another brush fire sparked Friday in what's been a week of dangerous environmental conditions in Bexar County.

KENS 5 eyewitnesses sent in videos of raging flames off I-35 between Palo Alto and Zarzamora. Fortunately, flames didn't reach a nearby school or apartment complex.

Bexar County officials say these dry conditions are the perfect recipe for brush fires.

From Saturday, February 12 to Thursday, February 17, 38 brush fires ignited in Bexar County. This includes a fast-moving fire Thursday off Sea Spray in south Bexar County. Investigators now believe arson sparked the fire.

RELATED: 1 hospitalized after large brush fire breaks out in south Bexar County

During the Sea Spray fire, crews were forced to battle the flames from the ground and from the sky.

"Winds were not just gusting and whipping up the fire, but they were also turning. We had a change in direction," explained Tom Peine, the Assistant Public Information Officer for Bexar County.

Firefighters arrived to find two charred trailers and two acres burning.

"Add to that the windy conditions, the drought conditions we see in certain areas of the county, you have a very volatile mix," said Peine.

Friends and family of Charles Wade spent Friday cleaning up.

"Seeing it like this is off-putting, a little debbie downer," said Wade, whose family owns the property where the fire started. "We're just trying to preserve the rest of the scrap metal."

Wade says fortunately, no one was on the property at the time. 

"There was just a lot of brush, it wasn't really used," said Wade. "There were two trailers here in hopes of being renovated."

RELATED: Heavy winds caused fire to spread quickly at northeast-side building

At the property behind the fire, a neighbor named Salvador watched with anxiety as the flames spread, in hopes they wouldn't reach his property.

"I went to my back fence, climbed the ladder and looked over and there was the fire," he explained. "It scared us. Thank God the wind blew away from our house."

He says he began to throw water on the burning ground to save his fence and his animals.

"If I didn't throw water on the grass, everything would have caught fire," he said. "I was worried about the animals."

In half an hour, Salvador watched as the flames engulfed his neighbor's trailers with Black Hawk helicopters hovering above.

"We've only seen things like that on TV, like in California with the wildfires," he said.

Peine stresses that even if the Red Flag Warning is no longer in effect, it doesn't take away from the conditions we have on the ground.

RELATED: ‘God saved us’ | San Antonio family recounts driving through large brush fire

"It can always get out of hand," said Peine. "A small thing such as a chain in between a trailer and a truck that drags over the pavement and sparks, those sparks can ignite grass on the side of the road."

County officials are asking everyone to be extra cautious this weekend and avoid any outside burning. They say wait it out, it's not worth the risk.

If you must burn on your property, officials say to first be sure you have a water source nearby.

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