Wildfires that have burned more than 6 square miles in Central Texas and imperiled hundreds of homes threatened to grow Thursday in parched forestland that is still recovering from massive deadly blazes in 2011.
Advertisement
“If you’re warned to evacuate and you do not evacuate, you are placing your lives in danger and that’s a danger that’s just not worth taking a risk on”, said the Governor.
Abbott said resources are being added to fight the fires, which ignited Tuesday morning in Smithville, near Buescher State Park – about 45 miles east of Austin.
Bastrop County’s Emergency Coordinator Mike Fisher says he expects what’s known as the Hidden Pines Fire to continue burning throughout the day Thursday, as conditions are predicted to be favorable to the spread of fire.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency also approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant request, meaning Texas will be eligible for 75% reimbursement from the federal government for costs associated with the fire.
“Last night we didn’t get much sleep”, Pumphrey said.
The fire reportedly was about 15 percent contained as of Thursday morning.
The Texas A&M Forest Service estimated Wednesday that the fire was about 50 percent contained. “It may be a day or two, it may be longer depending on the weather, but we will win this”, Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said.
Ahead of the fire, residents were poised to evacuate should the flames come towards then – as officials said they expected.
Two firefighters sent Thursday were on the ground at Hidden Pines with shovels and rakes to clear the area of fuel and create a “fireline”, Falkner said. Texas A&M Forest Service spokesperson Lexi Maxwell said “volunteer firefighters are the backbone of this crew”, giving their personal time, training, and preparation, they are the “unsung heroes”.
He said the strong winds with high temperatures, low humidity and dry vegetation are at fault. He says one person he spoke to Wednesday said that the 2011 fire at least helped him understand what was important, what could be replaced, and how to move on.
The Hunt County fire took up 100 acres, Moon said. In addition, Travis County Emergency Services said STAR Flight’s EC-145 helicopter dropped 103 loads of water and their Huey dropped 31 loads of water on the fires Tuesday.
“… There has been a increasing number of 911 calls reporting smoke in the air in Van Zandt County”.
Advertisement
“Anything you think would be needed to clean up after fighting fires and [to] get soot off one’s body”, the chamber of commerce said in an email.
