Nearly three dozen small fires alongside Hwy. 84 were caused by a trailer Sunday afternoon.

“We identified 32 points of origin for the fires,” said Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Chris Reid.

Firefighters from all three Brookhaven Fire Department stations responded, as well as volunteers from multiple Lincoln County Volunteer Fire Departments.

“We worked on fires from SuperJacks (at East Lincoln Drive) to Hwy. 51,” BFD Chief Jeff Ainsworth said, adding that the county VFDs worked anything further east.

“It was alongside the highway, and some of it was side-to-side in the median, but it pretty much stayed on the state’s right-of-way,” Ainsworth said. “It was burning slow. We’d get out, put one out, jump back in the truck, pull up some and do it again.”

The fires were sparked by a trailer tire rim dragging on the asphalt of the highway as the driver continued to travel, Reid said. Law enforcement stopped the vehicle and addressed the issue with the driver, according to Reid.

“It could have been worse,” Ainsworth said. “We’re glad it didn’t burn any further.”