Grass fire in highway median closes U.S. 31 in Columbus

National Road was shut down in Columbus for almost an hour Thursday near Lowell Road while crews fought a grass fire in the median.

According to the Columbus Fire Department, firefighters were called to the intersection on U.S. 31 after reports of the fire at about 1:20 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Firefighters discovered that the fire was burning in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes. The windy and dry conditions let the fire grow quickly to about six acres and it created a large amount of smoke. The smoke led firefighters to request for the road to be shut down.

And the fire had jumped over the northbound lanes, threatening a garage on North County Road 150W. The property owner was attempting to stop the fire with a garden house.

Columbus and German Township firefighters arrived to assist with their off-road firefighting brush trucks. It took about 20 minutes to get the fire under control and firefighters were on scene for about 25 more minutes to put out hot spots. The road was re-opened at about 2:20 p.m.

The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, but firefighters say they believe it was accidental and likely sparked by discarded smoking materials.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department.