Summit County Citizens Voice

Texas Forest Service says fires have spread across 1.4 million acres

The RockHouse Fire in Texas burning in the Davis Mountains. PHOTO BY FRANK CIANCOLA VIA INCIWEB.ORG. Click on the image to see more photos from the Texas wildfires.

An April 22 map from the Texas Forest Service shows the locations of the active wildfires. Click on the image for the latest up-to-date interactive version of the map.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A cold front sweeping through parts of Texas brought cooler temperatures and more humidity, helping firefighters battling the Pk Fire Complex near Possum Kingdom Lake.

According to the April 21 Texas Forest Service incident management report a stationary cold front across central Texaas will generate some scattered showers and thunderstorms, with generally more moist conditions across much of the state.

The exception is in the west and northwest, with drier air in place and forecast gusty southwest winds up to 30 mph, along with relative humidity readings in the single digits.

Altogether, the Texas wildfires have now burned across more than 1.4 million acres.

The Pk Fire Complex has burned about 150,000 acres, destroyed 159 residences and threatens up to 2,000 additional structures. Fire officials said the Pk Fire Complex is about 25 percent contained and didn’t grow in the past 24 hours, thanks in part to the change in weather. More than 500 firefighters and 100 engines have been working to contain the Pk Fire complex. Click here for the latest update on this fire from Inciweb.org.

Costs for out-of-state resources to #Texas #wildfires since January 1: $21.8 million. Proposed TFS annual budget: $25.8 million. #txfire—
Gary Oldham (@garytx) April 22, 2011

An April 18 NASA satellite image shows large smoke plumes blowing off the large wildfires in Texas. Click on the image to see all the NASA photos of the Texas wildfires.

As of April 20, the Texas Forest Service had responded to four new wildfires reported burning on more than 1,000 acres.

At the Wildcat Fire in Coke County (158,000 acres, 30 percent contained), firefighters have protected more than 400 homes and some evacuation orders have been lifted.

At the 200,000-acre Rockhouse Fire (75 percent contained) 23 homes and two business were destroyed.

The 7,000 acre Pipeline Fire, in Tyler County, was still threatening 40 homes as of April 21.

The national overview is online here:  http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf.

Filed under: Environment, forest fires, La Niña Tagged: | Davis Mountains, firefighters, Inciweb, NASA, Possum Kingdom Lake, Summit County News, Texas, Texas Forest Service, Texas wildfire map, Texas wildfire photos, Texas wildfire satellite photos, Texas wildfires, Texas wildfires April 22