Texas Forest Service North Region working multiple large fires with evacuations underway
REST AREA FIRE
COUNTY
Gray
REGION
1A
FIRE SIZE:
1000 ac
CONTAINMENT:
0%
COORDINATES
35° 12′ 39.04″ N , 100° 49′ 17.52″ W
WINDMILL FIRE
COUNTY
Roberts
REGION
1A
FIRE SIZE:
1500 ac
CONTAINMENT:
0%
COORDINATES
36° 2′ 42.77″ N , 100° 50′ 40.33″ W
Lake Tanglewood Fire
South East of Amarillo
Multiple structures burning
Unknown size
Evacuations: Stockton Rd., Turtle Creek Dr., Lake Tanglewood Dr. (north of the church), Lago Vista St., and Overlook Rd.
New start
WHEELER COUNTY: FM1906 & CR 19
Unknown size
Evacuation
County Road R and 19 East to Kelton needs to evacuate. The Ag Life Center is open for shelter.
The wind is blowing enough in East Texas that air tankers would not be too useful currently. Beside that the sky is full of real estate currently. (dirt on the move)
I have a very good friend that lives a little south of Fredericksburg in Boerne. She told me that the 30 plus years she has lived there it’s never been this windy, hot and dry. They are in a terrible drought and the wind is blowing harder then she ever seen it this last couple of days. Very scary conditions is how she put it.
I have family in Austin, a son in law with his family ranch is S TX, Catarina, and an ex in Johnson City. The ex went into Autin last night because in the big picture of what can happen, both Fredericksburg and Johnson City are directly in the path of the Crabapple fire.
Son in law reported last week the in all his years of growing up on the ranch he’d never seen sustained winds like what was in progress right then.
I often check the level of the Highland Lakes reservoirs, which are generally low. Most Austinites proceed obliviously with what will be seen to have been reckless use of valuable water.
Last weekend a daughter went to a neighborhood chili cookoff, where a woman was working to get people into a Firewise community. Most folks didn’t get it, but when she began talking with my kid, the daughter told her no sales pitch was necessary. She’d grown up in Greenville CA. Their neighborhood has one road in and out. Fire danger was never considered in the layout of the development.
Austin now ranks fifth on the list of cities most vulnerable to wildfire in the US. Last week the entire S Central TX region was under either a fire danger warning, or Red Flag Alert. Meanwhile the state is running out of water. Unless the weather brings relief I don’t see this proceeding well.
I grew up in south Texas. 8 miles from Mexico and 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Deer and pig hunted near the area of the fire. Heard the were getting ash falling on south Austin area from Crabapple fire… Have a sister that lives in San Antonio she stated the wind has been horrible and very little rain along with hot and dry.
I have immediate family near Fredericksburg and they told us the winds were something like they have never seen before in the 12 years of residence there.
