By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Steiner Ranch homeowners Chris and Debbie Donohue were talking to their son Brian on the phone when they heard a loud bang.  

On July 11 around 3:12 p.m., Debbie was in the kitchen when she heard the boom. It sounded like a car accident at first, she said.

“I looked at the park (across the street) to see flames lapping up,” Debbie said. 

She and Chris turned and immediately ran to their backyard, grabbing buckets of water from their swimming pool. Thankfully they had chlorine tablet buckets handy. They didn’t have a long enough hose to reach the fire.

“The flames were not very high, 3 to 4 inches above the ground,” Debbie said.

The four kids who live across the street of Westridge Park at Flat Top Ranch Road and Country Lake Drive saw the flames too. They started carrying pots and watering cans of water to help put out the fire. One of the girls called 9-1-1.

Everyone kept refilling and taking water over to extinguish the flames. It took several minutes.

“By the time firefighters showed up, the fire had grown four times as large,” Debbie said. 

The fire – which was likely started by lightning – happened between the road and sidewalk. It also happened by a dead tree.

“Had it gotten to the dead tree, it would have been a matter of moments (before much more damage was done),” Debbie said. “The HOA needs to get rid of these dead trees.”

The residents put out the fire and by around 3:30 p.m. Lake Travis Fire Rescue Emergency Services District #6 made sure the fire was fully extinguished and the area was safe.