Fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of a brush fire that started along a small dirt road and quickly spread along a wooden fence, narrowly missing several Federal Way homes on Monday.

One South King Fire and Rescue engine responded when someone called 911 at 3:37 p.m., noting their was an explosion, followed by a fire behind the BPA trail that was moving quickly in the 34000 block of 12th Ave. SW, said Lt. Jeff Bellinghausen, South King Fire spokesman. He said the fire occurred along a small dirt road off the BPA trail near Sherwood Forest Elementary.

However, once firefighters saw the fast-moving flames, they initiated a full response and called for additional help from Tacoma Engine 3 and beyond.

Bellinghausen said the fire scorched a 150-by-75-feet area of brush, from the dirt road to a wooden fence, where piles of tree trimmings and brush fueled the flames.

“As the flames came through the grass and the brush along the BPA trail, it hit those piles that lit the brush on fire,” he said.

He noted some homeowners sprayed their backyards with garden hoses, attempting to keep the fire at bay until firefighters doused the flames. Fire marshals were on site Tuesday afternoon still trying to determine the official cause of the fire.

There were no injuries.

“These types of fires burn so quickly,” said Bellinghausen. “It went from a little spark to really getting into peoples’ backyards very quickly.”

King County and other area jurisdictions enacted burn bans on Monday due to the unusually dry weather. Bellinghausen said South King Fire and Rescue responded to 26 brush or vegetation fires last week and 11 the week before that.

“We expect these instances to increase as the weather gets hotter,” he said, noting people should take precautions, including to make sure to extinguish cigarettes properly and obey the law and don’t use fireworks.