State officials say unlike the 2011 fire, the ground in Bastrop County today isn’t as dry, but there is concern that a cold front with projected high winds could cause the fire to spread and change direction.
Advertisement
Residents of about 400 homes have been advised to evacuate since the fire began Tuesday, officials said.
Additional firefighters were on their way to battle the blaze, located in the same pine forest area where a 2011 wildfire burned through a few 34,000 acres. But there’s still no rain in the forecast for the county.
Firefighters work with heavy machinery to contain the fire near Smithville, Texas, Wednesday, October 14, 2015.
On area resident, Belinda Williams, who lost her home in the 2011 Bastrop fire, talked about the importance of having insurance when these types of tragedies occur.
Firefighters from Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Southlake and Frisco are in central Texas helping fight the fires.
About 25 percent of the fire was contained as of Thursday, after the blaze quadrupled in size in one day. To help them in their fight, a DC-10 jet tanker that can spread almost 12,000 pounds of retardant over five separate drops is set to arrive Friday morning.
Wildfires four years ago chewed up 53 square miles in Bastrop County, about 45 miles southeast of Austin, destroying 1,600 homes and leaving 2 people dead. The forestry service says it plans to use the plane strategically to protect structures, homes and to stop any further advance of the wildfire. But thanks to high, shifting winds, by end of day Wednesday it had covered 3,500 acres and was only 10 percent contained, with 9 homes destroyed and 150 homes threatened. No deaths or injuries have been reported. But he says humidity will remain low and continue to sap already bone-dry grass and trees of moisture.
Advertisement
“Even though we rebuilt, it wasn’t what we had before and we’re just now getting it all cleaned up out there… and here we go again”, Birch said. He says they’ve moved crews to the southwest part of the fire, to create bigger containment lines in an attempt to keep the fire from threatening more homes. The Hidden Pines Fire is the result of urban sprawl and developmentinto areas historically prone to wildfires. As of Thursday morning, the Texas A&M Forest Service was reporting that the fire had burned through 4,200 acres of land and now poses a threat to 154 homes.
