Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Wildfires whipped up by winds, blister hundreds of thousands
of acres in the Texas Big Country
Crews battle fatigue, water shortages as they fight several area
blazes
By Celinda Emison, Greg Kendall-Ball
Saturday, April 16, 2011
More than 10 wildfires throughout the Big Country blistered
hundreds of thousands of acres Friday, killing one volunteer
firefighter and injuring two others, destroying at least 32 homes
and prompting evacuations in several area communities.
Texas Forest Service officials said their resources were stretched
to the limit Friday with 1,000 personnel from 35 states battling
blazes throughout Texas.
"We had to turn down five requests (for assistance) Friday," said
Marq Webb, public information officer for TFS, who added more
personnel and equipment are set to arrive today.
In Eastland County, volunteer firefighter Greg Simmons died when
fire swept over his vehicle. Two other firefighters were
hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Range fires raged in every direction of Abilene — from Knox and
Stonewall counties to the north, Coke to the south, and Callahan,
Eastland, Stephens and Palo Pinto counties to the east.
A cold front that moved into the area Thursday prompted high,
gusty winds to shift to the north and northwest, driving the fires
south and east. Wind gusts Friday were reported as high as 63 mph.
"Winds that high drive wildfires to a critical point to where they
are hard to contain." said Joel Dunn, meteorologist with the
National Weather Service.
Overnight the winds were expected to die down with gusts in
Abilene and the area only expected to reach 20 miles per hour
today.
Among the fires causing problems Friday were the Cooper Mountain
Ranch Fire, north of Rotan; the Wildcat Fire, north of San Angelo;
the PK West Fire in Stephens County; and the Hohertz Fire in Palo
Pinto County, and the East Sidwynicks Fire, near Gorman.
Cooper Mountain Fire
The Cooper Mountain Ranch Fire, a monstrous fire north of Rotan in
Fisher County, grew to almost 150,000 acres Friday.
Jason Hull summed up the fire situation in Rotan fairly
succinctly: "There's fire, and it's everywhere."
A firefighter with the Rotan Volunteer Fire Department, Hull was
manning the command post inside the fire hall, after city
officials forced Chief Robert "Pa" Hoffman to get a few hours of
rest.
Fisher County Sheriff J.A. Robinson flew over the area early
Friday in a Department of Public Safety helicopter and later
assessed damage on the ground.
"North of town it looks like the backside of hell," Robinson said.
Lee McNeely, spokesman for the TFS, said the wind was too strong
for their reconnaissance helicopter to fly, and officials were
unable to immediately update estimates on the size of the fire.
Fire encroaching on the city of Rotan forced the Texas Department
of Public Safety to evacuate the city for several hours Thursday
night. Patients and residents of the Fisher County Hospital on
Highway 70 between Rotan and Roby were sent to Sweetwater because
of the thick smoke being driven into the city.
Plowed fields north of Rotan halted the advance of the fire and
sent it branching off to the east into pasture and ranch land, and
west into an area pockmarked by deep canyons.
Throughout the night, fire crews — constantly reinforced by new
arrivals from neighboring counties — worked to cut fire breaks and
protect homes and structures that were threatened.
Rotan Mayor Lynn Gibson said they had used more than 250,000
gallons of city water to douse the flames.
"And a Texas Forest Service guy told me those helicopters had
drained every stock tank in a 100-mile radius. Those won't get
filled again until we get some decent rains, and we haven't had
good rain since last September," Gibson said.
Possum Kingdom fire
Fires in Stephens County around Breckenridge forced the evacuation
of 200 homes, officials at TFS reported. So far, the main PK Fire
has charred more than 20,000 acres and destroyed 30 homes.
Residents from Possum Kingdom Lake were evacuated to Breckenridge,
officials there reported. The Red Cross opened up an evacuation
center at the Trinity Baptist Church. Two other blazes in Stephens
County scorched almost 400 acres.
On Friday the PK West Fire shut down Highway 16 north and U.S. 180
on the Stephens, Palo Pinto county lines.
At 9:40 p.m. officials in Breckenridge announced that Highway 180
East would shut down overnight.
Hubbard Creek
A fire at the Hubbard Creek Reservoir burned between 300 and 500
acres and forced the evacuation of between 40 and 50 homes at the
reservoir, officials at the Breckenridge Fire Department reported.
While fires burned in several areas in Stephens County, high winds
ripped the roofs from two homes, and sparked a blaze at a gas
station inside the city limits. Fortunately, fire crews were
returning to town and were able to extinguish the fire at the gas
station.
Power lines sparked grass fires in northeast Stephens County near
the Necessity and Frankell communities, which were under control
Friday evening.
No firefighters were injured, officials reported.
"They are just tired," said Cecil Ransaier, chief of the Wayland
Volunteer Fire Department, which was on the scene along with
Breckenridge and Hubbard Creek fire fighters.
Palo Pinto County
The communities of Mingus and Gordon near Strawn were evacuated
Friday night because of a 6,500-acre fire burning in Palo Pinto
County. Officials at the Palo Pinto County Sheriff's Office
ordered the evacuations and put residents in Strawn on standby.
U.S. 180 and State Highway 16 west were shut down due to fires,
officials said.
Eastland County
A 3,000-acre fire in Gorman claimed the life of a firefighter and
forced the evacuation of the town Friday. Residents went to De
Leon and Eastland, but by late afternoon, they were allowed to
return home.
"Mother Nature cooperated when the wind died down after dark it
really helped a lot," said Eastland City Manager Ron Holliday.
Holliday said fire crews had contained the two fires.
"We are hoping it stays this way in the morning (Saturday) and we
don't have any more fire." he said.
'I couldn't go'
North of Rotan, along Highway 70, Clay Wilfong and Troy Barker
were trying to prevent a barn on their property from joining the
list of structures destroyed by the fire. Using a trailer-mounted
tank, they sprayed water on the asphalt shingles on an outbuilding
and the surrounding brush.
"I know this probably won't do much good," Wilfong said. "But at
least it gives me something to do."
Wilfong said he was stuck Thursday night, when Highway 70 north
and south of his property was closed down.
"There was fire all the way around me, and I couldn't go anywhere.
I would have evacuated if I could, but with the roads blocked, all
I could do was drag my stuff out in the middle of my wheat field
and hope it didn't burn," he said.
Friday, Wilfong loaded up 35 head of cattle and drove them to
Sweetwater, to store at the sale barn until the danger passed.
Stonewall County
The Swenson Fire, which burned more than 103,000 acres last week
and destroyed several unoccupied structures, rekindled Friday
because of high winds. The fires kicked up in several locations
burning more than 1,400 acres, TFS officials reported.
Wildcat Fire
The Wildcat Fire in Coke County burned 42,000 acres and chugged
south toward Grape Creek Thursday and Friday, scattering evacuees
from rural homes in its path and defying the efforts of more than
100 personnel from 20 agencies to stop it.
A low wall of smoke hugged the horizon north of San Angelo all
morning. Phone calls into the newspaper, radio stations and city
and county offices transmitted the voices of a community in fear
as rumors spread and died.
Highway 208 at the north end of Tom Green County was put under
voluntary evacuation overnight, and about midmorning a handful of
homes on March Road north of Grape Creek were evacuated as the
fire moved southward, driven by winds up to 30 mph and more. Heavy
equipment moved up March Road toward the leading edge of the fire,
and 14 agencies brought about 100 personnel to the fight.
It was a losing battle.
"We made efforts this morning to contain it, but it's still out of
control," said Jose Rivera, public affairs spokesman for the Grape
Creek Volunteer Fire Department.
"The fire is moving back and forth, like a wave," Rivera said.
Matthew Waller, Jennifer Rios, Michael Kelly, Kiah Collier of the
San Angelo Standard-Times contributed to this report.