Police say fires set at Jasper County wildlife area

WHEATFIELD, Ind. (AP) - Police are trying to determine who intentionally set eight brush fires in a northwestern Indiana wildlife area.

State conservation officers say the fires were set Thursday in the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area near the Jasper County town of Wheatfield. Firefighters from Wheatfield and San Pierre needed more than three hours to contain the fires that burned about six acres.

Conservation officers say the fires were in the same area where several other fires were intentionally set last spring.

The Jasper-Pulaski wildlife area covers some 8,000 acres about 40 miles south of Gary and is known for attracting thousands of sandhill cranes during their annual migrations.