Massive Grass Fire Burns Thousands of Acres
Massive Grass Fire Burns Thousands of Acres
21 March 2008
published by www.kveo.com
Texas, USA — A massive grass fire igniting in northern Hidalgo county and Brooks county. It has burned about 26,000 acres, forcing evacuations, shutting down U.S. 281and FM 1017, and demanded a huge firefighter response.
It was a long night and day for the firefighters with emergency crews remaining on the scene. Hot spots still burn and firefighters continue to fight flames against winds, which are still a problem.
The massive brush fire overtook the upper Valley, southern Brooks County Fire Chief, Pete Rodriguez says, this half contained erratic fire, won’t be easy to put out. A smokey orange blaze engulfed the horizon with firefighters and the Texas Forest Service believe it all began with a power line spark.
More than 300 personnel from all over south Texas, came to eliminate the ferocious flames, with their fire engines, and water hoses, these tireless crews, knew what had to be done. Texas Forest Service spoke person, Marty Martinez says close to 500 people were evacuated from their ranch homes, 4 homes were lost. Now he says, they’re crossing their fingers, that the helitankers will put an end to the destruction.
Luckily, no injuries or deaths have been reported and a shelter was set up for those who were evacuated.
