Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Update: Massive Texas wildfire spreads to 70,000-plus acres
By MATT CURRY - The Associated Press
April 9, 2011, 7:01PM
DALLAS — A massive range fire spread Saturday to between 70,000
and 80,000 acres in West Texas, and firefighters were bracing for
the possibility the situation could worsen because of dry, windy
conditions.
The enormous fire scorching largely rural Stonewall, King and Knox
counties had become the largest in the nation, officials said
Saturday. It has been burning since Wednesday, when it was sparked
by pipe cutting.
"We have reports of fires literally coming in by the minute, and
tomorrow will be worse," said Mark Stanford, fire operations chief
for the Texas Forest Service.
Elsewhere, another fast-moving wildfire entered Fort Davis on
Saturday evening. Volunteer firefighter Jim Fowler called the
blaze the worst he has seen in 13 years.
"The fire has reached town, has actually gone through Fort Davis
at this time. We have lost about five structures that I know of,"
he said.
That fire spanned about 1,600 acres, and high winds hampered
efforts to fight it from the air. Evacuations took place at the
Fort Davis Estates, a housing subdivision, and 20 people were
evacuated from another community, Stanford said.
The fire started in Presidio County on Saturday afternoon and
rapidly burned into Jeff Davis County, which has Fort Davis as its
county seat. Stanford said he did not know what caused the blaze.
Stanford said officials were bracing for an unusually difficult
day Sunday, with hot, dry weather conditions, including humidity
levels in the single digits, which dries out vegetation fueling
the fire. High winds knock down power lines and ground
firefighting aircraft.
Alan Craft of the Texas Forest Service said the three-county fire
was "0 percent contained" on Saturday afternoon and expected to
continue spreading. Some power poles in Knox and Stonewall
counties were damaged, and livestock has been lost.
Two unoccupied houses have burned.
The communities of Benjamin and Guthrie were also threatened by
the larger fire.
Because of the worsening conditions, Stanford said responders,
emergency planners and entire communities should be prepared to
move out of harm's way.
About 100 members of the Texas Forest Service have been fighting
the big wildfire by land and air, along with local volunteer
departments.
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Martin Di Caro of AP Radio contributed to this report.