A fire in Bangs last Saturday, May 19th, ended up being an expensive one, destroying nearly $15,000 worth of much needed hay.

The Byler Angus Farm has been continuously in the Byler family for 100 years, and normally everything runs smoothly.

This all changed a little after noon on May 19th when Wendell Byler heard a knock at his door.

It was the owner of land across the street from Byler who stopped by to tell the Byler's there was a lot of smoke appearing to be coming from the Byler's back yard.

When Byler realized it was the bales of hay he had on his property, he immediately called 9-1-1.

Bangs Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dennis Lilley tells KTXS they were the first on the scene and immediately called for back up when they saw the smoke.

Lilley says before they got there, they didn't know what type of fire they were dealing with.

Firefighters from Santa Anna, Lake Brownwood, and Lake Damn Volunteer Fire Departments all responded and were there to help contain the fire.

"When we got there we had numerous bales of hay on fire, but it hadn't spread out of containment of where the bales of hay were, so we were lucky there," says Chief Lilley.

The Byler's had 98 bales of hay that they had received Friday, May 18th, burn, and 28 bales from last year burn, totaling 126 bales lost total.

Byler says last years hay was scarce, and this year it was nearly $115 for a round bale, totaling $14,490 lost in hay.

They were only able to salvage ten bales of hay.

Byler says he didn't think it could happen to him, but the conditions were just right for a hay fire to occur.