OFR: Weather played role in Thursday afternoon wildfires in Ector County

ECTOR COUNTY, TX (KWES) - On Thursday afternoon, Ector County firefighters had their hands full with three separate wildfires north of Gardendale.

Captain Martin Moya of Odessa Fire and Rescue said, "The high winds don't spark it the high winds just carry it. Once it starts running, it's hard to catch up to."

Moya along with other firefighters from Andrews, Goldsmith, and Gardendale managed to catch up to three separate wildfires.

"Looks like it jumped from the median over to the side of the road and took off into the pasture," said Moya.

Parts of 385 North heading towards Andrews was scorched, causing traffic slow down with two lanes being closed. For the firefighters who had been on the scene since a little after 4 p.m., they were still putting out hot spots nearly two hours later.

"Right now the way the weather conditions are with the low humidity and of course it's hotter than it usually is this time of year and with the wind blowing the way it is, it's set up for a good mixture. If we get anything to spark it's going to run for a little bit," said Moya.

It's the quick action of the firefighters to make sure the three wildfires didn't get any worse. With the start of wildfire season Moya believes this area is primed for more.