Chaos erupts after car fire at Prairie View trail rider campground

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (KTRK) -- A fire at the Prairie View trail riders campground caused quite a scare this afternoon.

A coal from a barbecue pit fell out and ignited a vehicle, which then caught the grass on fire.

A large patch of scorched and singed earth remains as a reminder of the chaotic event, but thankfully, no people or animals were hurt during the ordeal.

Video taken by Untouchable Trail Riders show people trying to keep the blaze under control until emergency crews arrived, but the wind and the dry conditions made that difficult.

When firefighter arrived, it took about 40 minutes to put the car fire out.

There was only one volunteer fire truck that initially responded, then Waller County and Hempstead Fire Department crews came to help.

"The trail riders got together first of all and they were stomping it out," said trail boss Myrtis Dightman, Jr. "Fire extinguishers, water, whatever they had but unfortunately there was a car that was parked pretty close by it. The car caught afire and they couldn't put it out."

The reason folks were out here cooking in the first place was for a charity chili cook-off to raise scholarship money for the Prairie View Trail Riders Association.

Even though there was a slight mishap today, that's not going to stop this group from journeying forward.

They'll head out to Hockley, Texas in the morning, then end up at RodeoHouston later this week.