A sizeable portion of West Texas is in flames and has been for days. Five small wildfires merged late last week to become one very large one about 100 miles west of here. Some further west have been contained but the fires are spreading faster than the firefighters can control them. And there have been some in east Texas, so the states resources are being spread very thin. Now the state is waiting for the president to declare Texas a major disaster area and send firefighters and equipment to help. So far over 7,807 fires have burned more than 1,528,714 acres. The majority of that part of the state hasn't had rain in months, the humidity level out there has been between 5-20 percent which is dryer than the Sahara Desert because of the long term drought and we have had several weeks of very strong, drying winds. One fireman was killed last week, fire over took his location and the smoke was so thick a fire vehicle also fleeing the area didn't see him on the road and hit him. Texas Wildfires
You can have all of ours! We are about 5 inches above normal for the year and this is only April. Rain all day again today. The only dry day this week is to be Thursday. Wish I could send it to you!
Sending good thoughts to your location Toni. Hope they can get everything under control without further loss of life. Is your location safe?
Here's hoping that more help will be sent as soon as possible. Such devastation. I'm doing a rain dance for our Texas folks.
We are far enough away from that particular fire that there is no danger to us from it. But with the drought, low humidity and high winds it's really hard to state categorically that we are safe. If someone in our neighborhood decides to light up the grill outside, in spite of outdoor burn bans, and the wind causes the flames to jump to a nearby tree or fence...as dry as it is, the resulting fire could spread pretty quickly. So all the local fire departments are on high alert. Cigarette butts tossed out of car windows have already caused several smallish grass fires along streets and highways. Stupid people!!! The fire on the outskirts of Austin last weekend that involved 20 homes was caused by a homeless man lighting a campfire in a wooded area. Austin has been in a drought for close to 15 years so things got out of control very quickly.
What a disaster, never knew a drought can last that long. My rain prayers are towards your direction Toni.
Last Sunday at church the Prayer Concerns contained a heartfelt prayer for the wildfire areas in Texas, as well as those who suffered from the tornadoes and storms across the South. We are surrounded by greenery, but we are still deathly afraid someone will toss a cigarette butt out the car window and start a fire--just because the grass is green doesn't mean the thatch underneath isn't as dry as tinder. Toni, I'm so glad you are safe, at least for the time being. Let's pray for each other, and those in West and East Texas, and near Austin.
I would gladly send you all of our Scottish rain if only it were posssible Toni. I really hope those fires don't cause any further loss of life or destruction of property. I'lll be keeping everything crossed for all the people in the Austin area.
A lot of people don't think the burn ban applies to them. Some people are still burning their trash because they have a barrel. But, do they consider the sparks that fly up into the air. I once passed a fire in the median on the interstate highway. Not a quarter mile down the road a man tossed a cigarette out of his car window. It rolled over the shoulder into the grass spewing sparks all the way. I got his liscense plate number and turned it into the state police who patrol the highway. They thanked me and said they could only send him a letter warning him of the fire dangers from throwing cigarette butts out the window. If they saw it they could ticket him. Some people just don't think. Two fires in Brazos County this week were caused by inappropriate disposal of cigarettes. dooley
I hadn't read or heard about this Toni so I am here leaping around the study doing a rain dance especially for you. I hope there are no more deaths and I hope people use their common sense whe extinguishing cigarettes. It must be a huge worry for you, I hope the rains come and halt the fire in it's tracks.
The affected area might be getting some rain later this week. The cool front that moved across the state yesterday dropped temperatures and is creating storms in different areas. List of wildfires in the past few days in Texas and their present status There are a few hundred firefighters from other states who have joined the volunteers but not nearly as many as needed. Fighting a wildfire is a different set of strategies and equipment than fighting a house or building fire in the city but even so there have been many cities in the state who have sent help too.
What cool front moved across the state yesterday? It was windy and 95 yesterday and windy and 90 here today. It did say we had a 30 percent chance for scattered thunderstorms tonight. Yep, 30 percent. I'm pretty sure they will scatter somewhere else. I'll let you know tomorrow. dooley
Problem with being in south Texas is that cool fronts, which aren't very strong to begin with, are very weak when they get that far south Our temp yesterday was 92...today our high has been 63. The temperatures out west of here are much cooler than yesterday and the humidity level out there has been up around 60-80 percent. That's really helped the firefighters.
Toni, Wishing you and your fellow Texans well. I was worried about you when I saw on national news about the fires. They are so scary! We have faced such fire danger at our mountain retreat in Colorado. No fun. I sure hope you get rain.
