September 21, 2021 4:00 a.m.

A squirrel that caused a short in a transformer sparked a grass fire Monday afternoon, four miles west of Oakland.

Kyle Reed of the Douglas Forest Protective Association said crews from DFPA and Oakland Rural Fire Department responded to the area near the 5000 block of Green Valley Road at about 2:20 p.m. Reed said crews reported a slow-moving grass fire, named the Gross Mountain Fire, that was burning through a grazed off field. Firefighters quickly stopped the forward spread of the fire at two and a half acres and remained on the scene for about an hour.

Reed said one barn was threatened by the Gross Mountain Fire but no damage was reported. Crews were assisted by personnel from the Douglas Electric Cooperative.