MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas – As temperatures increase, so do the chances of grassfires. It’s easy to accidentally start a fire if you aren’t taking the right precautions. Killeen Fire Chief James Kubinski said it starts with carelessness on many different levels. It could be throwing a cigarette on the side of the road, or even by parking your hot car over tall grass.

There’s a number of different ways a grass fire can be started–and once they get going, they’re difficult to stop.

“You know, you throw a bottle out the window and it breaks the glass and that sun shining down on it can spark a fire,” Kubinski said.

He said tall grass is more likely to catch on fire–especially in dry conditions.

“If you have a prairie or field behind you with tall brush, I know it’s hot, I know it’s tiring, but get that cut down,” Kubinski said.

He said that nighttime brings more humidity, so the danger is mostly during the day.

“The middle part of the day from noon to about 7 p.m. is where we see the highest potential for fires to start and spread. If you put any kind of wind in there that makes it spread even quicker,” Kubinski said.

When a fire starts and you’re unsure of what action to take first, it starts with a call to 911.

“The call, the 911 call is most imperative. You need to do that as quick as possible,” Kubinski said.

The fire chief said don’t try to fight the fire without specialty equipment. Let the firefighters do the firefighting.

“We know you want to protect your property, but sometimes when you’re doing that, you don’t pay attention and then you end up becoming a victim. And that’s the last thing we want to see, is somebody become a victim of the fire,” Kubinski said.

(Fox 44 contributed to this report)