Massive Wildfire Grows In East Texas

United States?(Texas) - An army of Texas firefighters is battling a 14,000-acre wildfire Sunday in Trinity and Polk counties that already has destroyed two homes and six trailers and is likely to spread even more, the Texas Forest Service said. The blaze, called the Bearing Fire, ignited shortly after noon Friday in the Davy Crockett National Forest west of Lufkin and was only 20 percent contained by Sunday morning, said Rae Brooks, spokeswoman at the National Forest Service.

No injuries were reported, but voluntary evacuations were called in the communities of Helmic and Nigton and a mandatory evacuation was ordered in Trevat west of FM 2262. A temporary shelter has been set up at Groveton High School.

If the fire jumps FM 2262, firefighters said, mandatory evacuations may impact the community of Apple Springs as well.

"It's one of the largest wildfires in East Texas, ever," Brooks said. The massive blaze trumps the "Chicken Fire" in Nacogdoches County in 2000, which burned 20,000 acres.

As firefighters battled the blaze on the ground, two heavy air tankers and three large helicopters were working it from the air, the Forest Service said. Firefighters from Hudson and Diboll were among the numerous fire departments at the scene.

Almost the entire state was under a red flag warning Sunday because of high temperatures, low humidity and high winds, signaling an extreme risk of fire, Forest Service spokesman Richard Reuse said.

Those elements, he said, could help the blaze to spread.

"That combination can cause a fire to get much larger," Reuse said.

As flying embers are propelled by high winds, "the fire could be spotting a half a mile to a mile ahead of the main body of the fire, so it could be causing spot fires," he said. "In addition, with the extremely high winds, the fire could push forward more rapidly than usual."

The Bearing Fire was generally headed in a northwest direction Sunday, Reuse said.

The state's longstanding drought has fueled some record-breaking fires, according to the Forest Service.

Since Nov. 15, a total of 3,012,879 acres have burned in Texas, exceeding the previous record set in 2006 of 1,976,295 acres, Brooks said.

Two-thirds of Texas counties -- 171 of the state's 254 counties -- have been impacted by wildfires this year.

As of June 17, a total of 496 homes have been lost statewide, and 1,399 "other structures" have been destroyed by fires, Brooks said.

Written by Houston Chronicle

Courtesy of YellowBrix
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