DALLAS - State officials said Tuesday that wildfire burning about 70 miles west from the Dallas-Fort Worth area has blackened an area twice as big as previously estimated, and that strong wind gusts prompted the evacuation of the entire town of Palo Pinto.
The fire at Possum Kingdom Lake has grown to nearly
150,000 acres from estimates a day earlier of about 63,000 acres,
according to the Texas Forest Service.
150,000 acres from estimates a day earlier of about 63,000 acres,
according to the Texas Forest Service.
About 150 homes and one church have been confirmed destroyed in the area.
Tuesday afternoon the entire town of Palo Pinto was evacuated after wind gusts helped the massive wildfire jump the river. Residents were told the fire was possibly an hour away and they were ordered to leave.
Deputies hooked up garden hoses to wet down the roof of the sheriff's office and Department of Public Safety, troopers armed with rifles surrounded the sally port as prisoners were evacuated from the jail.
Only members of volunteer fire department stayed behind to defend as much of their town as they could. They were joined by other firefighters who, with the help of dying winds, were able to keep the fire at bay.
The fire is the fifth in Texas to have burned at least 100,000 acres in the past two weeks. Most of the state is in extreme drought, and wildfires in the past week alone have burned more than 1,000 square miles of parched Texas ranchland -- an area that combined would be the size of Rhode Island.
The Texas Forest Service has ordered additional aerial support to help battle the wildfires. In addition to what is already being used on the ground and in the air, four MAFFs (Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems) and a DC-10 airtanker will join the fight.
From what I've heard this wildfire was caused by a camper who went to get beer
and left his campfire unattended.
Today, Nathan and I went to survey what the 100 MPH plus winds
did to the local park in our area of Ellis County.
Massive old growth trees downed, but you have to realize.....
It's like the Native American Chestnuts,
once the disease from the imported Oriental Chestnuts arrived here
and killed the Native Chestnut Trees, that left room for other species of trees to flourish.
Mother Nature will always have her way.
And this little squirrel apparently likes french fries
Thanks to Brendie for getting me to think about Chestnuts.
Till next time,
Bonjour
3 comments:
Terry, with so many bad things happening in our world,and us having blogger friends from all across the globe,we are so thankful to hear you are alright.I know you are a busy lady, so thanks for taking a minute to ease our minds.
I've been thinking about you, Texwisgirl, Texan and so many other bloggers I follow that are living where you are. I'm sad this is happening, but happy that you have been unaffected. Thank you for the update. Hugs.
By the grace of God!
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