Fires in Texas
Severefiresin Texas
30 December 2005
Wildfires ravaged parts of the Lone Star State, southeast of Abilene, Texas.
Two people were reported dead and three more missing. Also seventy homes weredestroyed in Cross Plains. Eight firefighters were injured while fighting the fires in Granbury and another four were hospitalized in HoodCounty. Fires in Granbury and Kennedale were caused by children playing withfireworks.
North Texas fires have destroyed 100 buildings, including 78 houses, across 13,000acres. At least 73 wildfires were burning in north and central Texas Wednesday, whereGov. Rick Perry has declared a state of emergency.
In Gainesville, one woman died while trying to protect her home from an approachingfire.
According to news report by www.sciencedaily.com, one state official said the outbreak was the state’s worst in nearly a decade.
Perry ordered the deployment of the Texas Army National Guard and requested assistance from the U.S. Forest Service. The Texas Forest Service hired a single-engine air tanker to drop water late Tuesdayafternoon.
The National Weather Service warned that the dry conditions probably will continue for the nextmonth.
