Light magnified by bottles in garbage can started blaze that destroyed 5 homes, fire chief says

Sunlight magnified by glass bottles in an open garbage can ignited paper trash, starting a 500-acre North Texas wildfire that destroyed five homes, fire officials said Thursday.

The July 18 fire on Possum Kingdom Lake's western shore, about 70 miles west of Fort Worth, took eight days to fully contain.

Chief Bonnie Watkins of the Possum Kingdom West Side Volunteer Fire Department found a trash can packed with party trash that included paper goods, food and numerous other glass bottles, according to a department statement Thursday.