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Man who died in Limestone County fire identified
Officials have identified the man who died after trying to extinguish a massive grass fire on his Limestone County property Wednesday as 80-year-old Charles Day, said Alan Fox, law enforcement investigator with the Texas Forest Service.
The Shiloh fire has today become a criminal investigation, Fox said, as officials have traced the cause of the blaze to a stolen vehicle hidden in the woods on Day’s property.
Fox said someone had set fire to a Honda CR-V parked and hidden at the edge of the woods. The vehicle, he said, had been reported stolen two days earlier in College Station.
The fire, which started at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, burned 125 acres of a hay field in the rural area about five miles southeast of Mexia. Flames were largely extinguished by 6 p.m.
Various area volunteer fire departments battled the blaze in 100-degree heat, and the Texas Forest Service brought in two helicopters to fight the flames from above.
Fox said the investigation today has been handed over to the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office. No one was immediately available today from the sheriff’s office for comment.
Fox said the exact cause of Day’s death has not yet been determined. The man, he said, tried to plow a fire line to stop the fire from spreading. He was found minutes later lying next to his truck.
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