Crews Make Headway on Texas Wildland Fires
Source Houston Chronicle
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Sept. 11--An army of firefighters is making slow but steady headway on a massive fire that has consumed thousands of acres in three counties north of Houston, with the blazes now about 65 percent contained, a Texas Forest Service official said Sunday.
"We had a good light last night (Saturday)," fire service spokesman Ralph Collum said. "If the winds don't get any stronger, then things will be great for us."
As of Sunday morning, the fires had scorched 18,468 acres in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties -- down from the 21,619 acres earlier reported because of more accurate mapping, Collum said. A total of 59 homes and one business have been destroyed.
Meanwhile, a mandatory evacuation order has been lifted for residents of Grimes County except those living in two subdivisions off Riley Road -- Plantation Lakes and Saddle Creek, Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said. The subdivisions are located in both Grimes and Waller counties. Riley Road remained close at the intersection of FM 1774, with only emergency vehicles being allowed in.
For many residents of Waller and Montgomery counties, patience was the name of the game Sunday as officials pondered whether to lift a mandatory evacuation order there.
"There's a rumor mill going," said Tricia Kristofferson, spokeswoman at the Texas Forest Service. "There are questions about when folks can get back into their homes. No decisions have been made. We'll be holding a meeting today (Sunday) with the counties involved to discuss that."
In Montgomery County, bulldozers were being used to create fire breaks and many areas were showing signs of progress, according to Lt. Dan Norris of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. Utility company workers were allowed to enter the areas to begin the process of restoring service.
In Waller County, the fires were 75 percent contained as of early Sunday, Waller County Judge Glenn Beckendorff reported.
"We have suffered no more increase in lost acreage, we are still reporting 8,500 acres burned," he stated in a press release. "We have lost no more structures, we are still counting approximately 73 structures (destroyed)."
Mother Nature holds the key on how well the firefighting efforts go, Collum said.
"It's looking much better since yesterday (Saturday)," he said. "We haven't had the big smoke columns, which usually happen in the middle of the afternoon when the winds pick up. We had 8 percent humidity yesterday and the fire was giving us a lot of trouble."
The biggest area of concern on Sunday was the eastern flank of the fire -- the section of FM 1486 that runs north from Magnolia, Collum said. The reason, he said, were 5-10 mph winds out the west with gusts of up to 15 mph that could recharge the blaze.
"It's bad enough with this low humidity and extreme drought," Collum said. "If it rained three or four times, we wouldn't even be out here."
Sowell of Grimes County agreed.
"I'm just hoping that the weather holds out for the winds not to get out of hand for all of us," he said. "I hope that it won't be too painful ... for people going back to their homes. It's just a sad circumstance. We're having a difficult time without any rain throughout Texas."
Nearly 700 personnel have been involved in the fire fighting effort, as well as four single-engine air tankers, four C-130 air tankers, four Black Hawk Helicopters and a DC-10 Air Tanker, among other aircraft.
The specially fitted DC 10 from Austin carries 11,000 gallons of fire retardant, Collum said. Normal firefighting aircraft can each carry about 2,000 pounds of retardant. Five Black Hawk helicopters outfitted buckets have already joined in the effort.
Staff writer Brian Rogers contributed to this report.
