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Outside agencies called in to help fight Bastrop blaze
Texas Forest Service officials have requested help from agencies around the country to help contain a wildfire that has burned 1,200 acres east of Bastrop since Saturday, officials said. A group of 20 firefighters from Asheville, N.C., is expected to arrive today to help battle the remnants of the blaze using shovels, picks and chain saws.
In addition, a team from the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas spent Monday looking for trees that were still smoldering and were in danger of falling. A team with the State of Michigan drove through snowstorms over the weekend to help fight the fire, giving the group something to do during the winter, Michigan firefighter Jim Sartori said.
It will take a few more days before the fire is under control because of the dry conditions, low humidity and high winds, said Lewis Kearney, a Texas Forest Service spokesman.
“They want that fire to be smoke-free before it’s called under control,” Kearney said. “They’re feeling better about it, but it’s not contained. They’ll keep plugging away at it.”
By Monday evening, the fire was about 70 percent contained, Kearney said.
The fire, which started Saturday when a tree at least 60 feet tall fell onto a power line, burned an area 5 to 6 miles wide east of Bastrop near Texas 71 and Smithville, a Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative official said. The fire destroyed 28 homes, 12 businesses and more than 20 outbuildings. One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation.
Damage from the fire is estimated to be several million dollars, Bastrop County emergency services coordinator Mike Fisher said.
When it became apparent Saturday that homes were threatened, the county’s emergency coordinator decided to have sheriff’s deputies go door to door to evacuate residents, instead of using the emergency notification system.
The system only reaches homes with land-line phones, Fisher said.
“I didn’t need to just pop out a phone call and hope for the best,” he said Monday. Knocking on doors “was the most immediate and effective way” to evacuate people, he said.
Gayle Wilhelm, a spokeswoman for the county, didn’t have an exact number of evacuees, but she said it was probably more than 100 families.
“The main priority was the safety of residents and firefighters, and that was proven because we didn’t have any loss of life,” Wilhelm said.
Some residents were allowed to go back Monday to check on their homes, said Elaine Acker, a spokeswoman with the American Red Cross of Central Texas. A shelter at the Smithville Recreational Center closed Monday, and Acker didn’t know how many people were still in hotel rooms. Many were staying with friends or family, she said.
Crews worked Monday to widen a control line around the blaze using bulldozers to make sure that no embers blow onto dry grass, sparking more fires, Kearney said.
Helicopters and heavy airplane tankers that had been used over the weekend were released Monday, he said.
Alabama-Coushatta firefighter Kerwin Williams said his team’s mission was to clear the area for rescue vehicles and to make sure trees don’t fall on houses or injure people returning to their homes.
The team from North Carolina was called in because it knows how to recognize hidden fire hazards and dig them out or trim away potential flare-up sources using chain saws, Williams said.
“What often happens is that fire will get down into the roots of trees and smolder beneath the surface,” Williams said. “This presents a continuing chance that the fire can start up again, so we have to make sure there is nothing burning in the tree roots.”
Meanwhile, a 25-acre wildfire flared up Monday afternoon inside Camp Swift, a 12,000-acre National Guard training site north of Bastrop.
Kate Crosswait, a Texas Forest Service official, said crews with the National Guard and Forest Service battled the blaze, which was 75 percent contained by 6 p.m. No injuries were reported, Crosswait said.
Source: Texas-fire.com - Link
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Related News story:Bringing in More Resources for Grass FiresManuel De La Rosa
KINGSVILLE--Because of the dry conditions, and the extreme fire danger, there's a burn ban in effect in every county in the Coastal Bend, yet, some people are ignoring that and burning things anyway.
Firefighters said this is the second driest winter we've ever had in the Coastal Bend. They're on edge and want the public to be aware to take extra precautions to prevent a grass fire.
The dry conditions in Robstown on Sunday is showed how quickly a fire can get out of hand. The same thing happened last week near Lake Corpus Christi when a man burning trash saw flames get out of control within seconds.
Firefighters said the current conditions are scary.
"Right now, we're in historical fire conditions that this is a lot drier than last year," said Marty Martinez, who is the Assistant Chief of the Texas Forest Service overseeing South Texas. "All it's going to take is small spark to make a castrophic fire."
Because of those conditions, six firefighters from Wisconsin are staging in Kingsville to help out the Texas Forest Service. They're here with bulldozers and a brush truck.
"We can build lines with the dozers or use engines for structural protection or assisting the fire departments however we're needed," said Scott Fischer, a Wisconsin Wildland Firefighter.
"We have mounted portable pumps and hose lays and we can string out water and run water supply and foam right off the trucks for wildland firefighting or structural protection," said Ryan Brown, who's also a Wisconsin firefighter in the middle of a two-week stay in South Texas.
The Texas Forest Service also has a helicopter ready to fight fires, like it did at King Ranch in Kleberg County two weeks ago.
"It basically can pull water from any water source and dump a thousand gallons over a fire on one time," Martinez said.
Firefighters also said homeowners need to use common sense and pay attention to red flag warnings.
"Keep your grass mowed," Martinez said. "It may be dead. It may not be green and lush. Keeping that trimmed creates a barrier to protect your home."
Firefighters said they hope these resources and tips will help out in case a big grass fire erupts in the Coastal Bend.
Source: kiiitv.com - Link
The serious violations involving the unsafe methods and procedures for the use of the rappel equipment, was an somewhat expected development as problems were identified early after the fact with the securing of specific rappelling equipment.
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