Calmer winds Tuesday should help fire-fighters battling a wildfire that has destroyed nearly 500 homes in Central Texas and forced thousands of residents to evacuate to shelters to avoid the blaze, officials said.
Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Victoria Koenig said it is too early to say how much progress was made fighting the wildfire in Bastrop County overnight, but that there were no winds early Tuesday. The fire enveloped at least 25,000 acres (10,117 hectares) on Monday.
“It’s encouraging we don’t have winds right now, not like yesterday,” Ms. Koenig said early on Tuesday morning. Even with the encouraging conditions, Ms. Koenig said it was a “tough, tough fire” that was raging through rugged terrain, including a ridge of hills.
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“You can still see the hills glowing quite a bit,” she said.
At least 5,000 people were forced from their homes in Bastrop County about 25 miles (40 kilometres) east of Austin, the state capital, and about 400 were in emergency shelters, officials said Monday. School and school-related activities were cancelled on Tuesday.
Gov. Rick Perry told NBC’s “Today” show that more than 50 fires were burning across the state.
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“We’re a long way from having these under control,” Mr. Perry said.
Mr. Perry urged residents to follow evacuation orders and not put their lives in danger for the sake of their possessions. He returned to Texas, cutting short a visit to South Carolina where he was campaigning for the Republican nomination for president.
Fanned in part by howling winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, the blaze rapidly grew on Monday, racing through rain-starved farm and ranch land.
Winds in the area gusted up to 30 mph (50 kph) on Monday, but dropped overnight to around 5 mph (3 kph) and were only expected to get up to 10 mph (6 kph) by afternoon, said National Weather Service forecaster Orlando Bermudez.
In Bastrop, a town of about 6,000 people along the Colorado River, huge clouds of smoke soared into the sky and hung over downtown Monday. When winds picked up, flames flared over the tops of trees. Helicopters and planes loaded with water flew overhead, and fire-fighters along a state highway outside the city converged around homes catching fire.
“Waiting is the most frustrating thing,” said Gina Thurman, 47, choking back tears as she sat by herself in the shade on a curb outside Ascension Catholic Church, one of several shelters in the area. “You’re sitting there and you don’t know anything but your house is probably burning.”
Rick Blakely was among about 30 people sleeping on cots at the church. The 54-year-old said he was in a state of shock and “not expecting anything to be standing” when he returned to his home.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said.
Strong winds coupled with drought conditions allowed the fire to travel quickly over somewhat hilly terrain, burning through pine and cedar trees and wiping out subdivisions as well as ranch land. Dry conditions were expected to persist at least through the week, according to the National Weather Service.
The fire was far enough away from Austin that the city was not threatened, but it consumed land along a line that stretched for about 16 miles (26 kilometres), Texas Forest Service officials said.
The wildfire destroyed at least 476 homes, and about 250 fire-fighters were working around the clock using bulldozers and water trucks against the fire, Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, and officials said they knew of no residents trapped in their homes.
But the blaze was “nowhere near controlled” on Monday and a separate, smaller blaze south of the city was growing larger, said Mike Fischer, the county’s emergency management director. It’s unclear how the fire began.
Crews have responded to nearly 21,000 wildfires in Texas since the traditional fire season began early in the year. Outdoor burning, including campfires, is prohibited in all but three of the state’s 254 counties.