Firefighters spent hours Wednesday evening battling a 60-acre brush fire that threatened homes south of Colfax.

No one was injured in the blaze that consumed a field about three miles from Highway 195. Albion Fire Chief Randy Farr said firefighters did not order evacuations, but some residents fled their homes of their own accord.

“I’ll definitely call this a bad one,” Farr said. “We did see one house’s residents pulling their belongings out of their house.”

The fire was especially severe when it started around 4:30 p.m. and spread quickly across the dry field, he said. Several power poles caught fire, but only one was seriously damaged.

“We got enough people out here to contain it,” he said, noting a quick response from firefighters enabled them to neutralize the flames before 8 p.m.

Farr said the cause of the fire is unknown. He did not speculate on what might have started it.

“We’re not going to investigate this one – it’s just not worth it,” he said.

The firefighting effort involved vehicles and personnel from Whitman County Fire Districts 4, 11 and 12. Tankers were on scene to supply water to the trucks.