A damaged boat trailer sparked several small grass fires Saturday on U.S. Highway 491 just south of Pleasant View.

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gary Smith said a wheel bearing on the small boat trailer created sparks as it heated up, and occupants of the pickup hauling the boat didn’t notice until the wheel came off.

He said the occupants of the vehicle would not be cited because they were not aware that they had caused the small fires, and they did not cause a car crash.

Clint Schurr, a firefighter with Pleasant View Fire Department, said there were four small grass fires along the highway. Firefighters used brush trucks to quickly put out the fires. They were between milepost 41 and Pleasant View, about 20 miles north of Cortez.

“They’re pretty small,” Schurr said. “We got to them pretty quick.”

An occupant of the pickup said the boat was so light they didn’t even know there was a problem until another driver signaled that they should pull over. She said they are from Illinois.

She said they were sorry about the fires.

sdolan@the-journal.com