ANGORA -- Firefighters from multiple agencies responded to a grass fire southwest of Alliance June 18.

The fire moved to within a few miles of Angora. Shane Varner, who owns Tacking Up Custom Creations with his wife Shelly, said the fire started about 8:30 a.m.

"We're roughly, from what we're hearing from the scanner, that we are about eight miles from the fire line. It started somewhere early this morning. I opened up at 8:30 and noticed a plume about 18-20 miles away at the Snake Creek Ranch. Now we are hearing that it's already passed Rush Creek, and they are battling it out right now with at least 10-12 different departments from the western Panhandle," Varner said from his store in Angora June 18.

The call for mutual aid from neighboring departments was made about 3 p.m. Firefighters stayed on the scene until it was contained late Tuesday night.

Varner said residents were encouraged to stay away from the fire zone to let firefighters contain the fire.