Marshal speaks on wildfires that threatened South MS neighborhood. Here are the findings

Two wildfires that swept through a South Mississippi neighborhood last month do not appear to have been intentionally set, and one was an accident caused by a contractor burning debris, the Jackson County Fire Marshal said.

A large fire that sent residents fleeing the Talla Pointe subdivision was ruled accidental. Its cause is undetermined, and investigators found “no evidence to pinpoint where it came from,” Fire Marshal Jeff Mattison said Friday.

Investigators determined a smaller fire north of Old Fort Bayou Road was an accident caused by a contractor burning debris in the area.

“There was nothing there that showed that it was an intentionally set fire,” Mattison said.

The two wildfires scorched 150 acres. They threatened more than 62 homes, burned backyard fences and crackled for hours through the trees. But authorities said miraculously, the wildfires caused no damage because firefighters doused the flames before they could ignite nearby homes.

The conclusions confirmed some residents’ suspicions. Some neighbors said they worried for months about construction crews who cut trees, stacked brush in piles and burned the debris instead of trucking it to a dumpster. Several said last month they saw one pile of branches burning near a building site off Old Fort Bayou Road on the day their neighborhood ignited.

Residents said they believe, stoked by wind, the fire spread.

Mattison said investigators found no criminal intent, and that the fire north of Old Fort Bayou Road was entirely accidental. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said it filed no charges in connection to the blaze.

Mississippi allows the burning of land-clearing debris, and the practice is common across the county. Trucking debris away takes longer and is more expensive, but contractors burning branches or felled trees cannot use rubber tires, plastics or other starter fuels that would lead to excessive smoke. Fires also cannot cause traffic hazards and cannot happen if the area is under a high fire danger alert or emergency air pollution warning.

Shannon Coker, communications director for the Mississippi Forestry Commission, said Jackson County was not under a burn ban when the fires hit in early August.

Mattison said contractors that burn debris in small areas do not need permits. Authorities ask, but do not require, contractors to notify the fire department when they burn. Mattison said it is unclear if the contractor on Old Fort Bayou Road did.

The U.S. Forest Service assisted the Jackson County Fire Marshal’s Office in the investigation.