I'm reading reports of fires burning in Fort Davis and surrounding areas. Sounds really bad.

My prayers go out to the residents and the fire fighters who are currently under-manned for this scale fire.

Evacuations south west of Midland. 25 mph + winds gusting to the north east. It's getting pretty bad out here.

Several friends were in Fort Davis this weekend for the Hammerfest bike race. The entire town was evacuated. Reports are really bad. I love that town and the entire area. Prayers to all concerned. The fire is still not controlled.

News:
http://bigbendnow.com
http://www.marfapublicradio.org/

Been following MarfaPublicRadio and NewsWest9 on Twitter.


NewsWest9:

quote:

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Victor Lopez reports that the Texas Forest Service is calling the fire near Fort Davis a "national priority". Up to 60,000 acres may have been burned including 60 structures.

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Current Wildfires:

http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?id=12888

quote:

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The following large fires were reported Saturday:

Rockhouse, Presidio County. 25,600 acres. Acreage not updated since Saturday evening. The fire ran from Marfa, through the town of Ft. Davis and into the mountains north of the town, within 13 miles of Balmorhea. Up to 50 homes have been lost. A Type 1 incident management team has been ordered from the Southern Area. Eight Type 1 Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) engines are en route, as well as three hotshot crews. One Type 6 TIFMAS strike team is assigned.

Hickman, Midland County. 15,873 acres. The fire is burning in the southern part of Midland. Up to 40 homes have been lost.

Crawford Ranch, Moore County. 20,000 acres. The fire was making significant runs yesterday. Numerous homes are threatened.

Killough, Garza County. 6,500 acres. Two Type 6 TIFMAS strike teams are in place. One home was destroyed. No other information was received.

Hohertz, Eastland/Stephens/Palo Pinto counties. 1,600 acres. The fire was moving fast through thick fuels and rough terrain Saturday. Two National Guard Blackhawk helicopters will be responding from Austin this morning.


Crews continue to work on the following fires:

Swenson, Stonewall County. 71,000 acres. The fire was very active on Saturday, but crews were able to hold it on a road on the north. Four TIFMAS strike teams are assigned. Three air tankers dropped 60,000 gallons of retardant yesterday.

Sanderson, Terrell County. 3,590 acres. The fire is near containment.

Cotton Ranch, Tom Green/Sterling counties. 2,930 acres. The fire is near containment.

Camp Bowie, Brown County. 3,355 acres. The fire is near containment.

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All sources say today's "fire weather" is even more critical than yesterday's.

Here are some photos of Saturday afternoon in Fort Davis.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamgaubert/sets/72157626345007899/?page=2

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/wildfires-leave-fort-davis-looking-like-the-newsreels-1390774.html

My heart and prayers go out to y'all, and your neighbors.

Went for my 10 mile walk early this morning, and you can smell the smoke in the air. They are now fighting a fire in Iraan as well as the ones in Marfa and Ft. Davis. Pray for the firefighters and volunteers, they are really having a hard time.

Gig'em, Ole Army Class of '70

Sounds like Rotan had a long night.
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/apr/14/kentfiremovesintofisher/

Fire in Kent, Fisher (Rotan) & Stonewall County, only 1 occupied structure (that I know of) destroyed, belonged to an Ag, Rory Burroughs. Lots of places still endangered. Burned all around & right up to my house 2 mi. north of Rotan. Pray for rain & no wind.

Bad fire in Kimble County around town of Junction. Junction Eagle has a good facebook site keeping track of the road closures and evacuations. School let out early today there.

Did the Junction fire get some rain on it?

are the fires out now?

Junction fire did get some rain, is showing 90% contained this morning.

@ For real:

The large Rockhouse (Ft. Davis) fire is still burning. About 325,000 acres as of now. They do have it 95% contained, but that could change easily as we have more hot, windy weather coming up.

The Junction fire was successfully contained with minimal damage to structures. For those interested, a local rancher/school teacher wrote one of the best letters to the editor I've ever read in the May 4 edition of the Junction Eagle (www.junctioneagle.com). In it he addresses issues that arise from absentee landowners and the need to fully understand the commitment of land ownership and stewardship.

We are thankful for all the help from the surrounding communities and consider ourselves fortunate that no major structures were harmed.



[This message has been edited by country (edited 5/10/2011 10:17a).]

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/googleearth.php

From the US Forestry Service, active fire tracking in google earth. Just click the "current" link and it will load all the active satelite tracking of fires.

Large fire threatening homes inside Loop 250 in Midland.

[This message has been edited by jwnichols (edited 5/24/2011 5:48p).]

It is sounding like they have the fire contained at least insofar as it is approaching the majority of Midland. However, there is a fire north of town that could still cause a lot of problems and the main fire is still not close to fully contained. Will post more if I hear it.

Looks like it was contained.

http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_f27a5e5e-8645-11e0-aae8-001cc4c03286.html