Beech Grove Firefighters Work for Hours Clearing Roads After Sudden Storm

Photo Courtesy of Beechgrove VFD

Beech Grove Volunteer Fire Department crews and local residents work together Saturday afternoon clearing fallen trees along County Road 149 after a fast-moving storm downed trees and damaged a barn in the area.

BEECH GROVE, Texas — What started as a string of scattered weather calls turned into hours of road-clearing and damage response for Beech Grove Volunteer Fire Department (BGVFD) on Saturday afternoon.

At 2:57 p.m., BGVFD was dispatched to multiple reports of downed trees across its district — most of them south of U.S. Highway 190, though several incidents were also reported north of the highway.

Firefighters spent the afternoon working shoulder-to-shoulder with residents and a crew from Seth Martindale, Jasper County Commissioner Precinct 1, cutting and removing debris from roadways. County Road 149 appeared to take the brunt of the damage, where a local resident reported briefly spotting a funnel cloud. Along that stretch, responders found trees on power lines, a snapped utility pole, and a barn that had its roof torn off and dropped into nearby woods.

“It’s still unclear if all the damage came from straight-line winds or a brief tornado spin-up,” said Fire Chief James Gunter, noting that .78 inches of rain was recorded at the BGVFD station on FM 777 during the storm.

Photos Courtesy of Beechgrove VFD

In addition to clearing blocked roads, BGVFD crews assisted the affected homeowner by relocating several large items from the damaged barn.

As the calls kept coming in, Angelina River Fire & Rescue and Jasper Volunteer Fire Department helped cover the north end of the Beech Grove district and joined in clearing additional roads.

“This week we went from battling high fire danger and vegetation fires to dealing with severe storms and widespread tree damage,” Gunter said. “Our volunteers rolled out with Brush Trucks 11 and 12 and a total of 15 firefighters to handle today’s calls.”