The Nation - News from March 21, 1988

A fire that scorched 275,000 acres of West Texas grasslands may have been partly the work of one or more arsonists who have set several recent fires, Callahan County Sheriff Bill Skinner said in Baird. He said investigators believe the giant fire, which began March 10 and burned for more than 4 1/2 days, resulted from two blazes--one an out-of-control trash fire and the second an arson fire set about a mile away along a Callahan County highway near the town of Clyde. Vehicles seen near the spot where the arson fire started match the description of those seen near the site of other fires, Skinner said. High winds pushed the flames across parts of five counties north and east of Abilene, with the bulk of the damage in Shackelford County to the north of Clyde.