As of Friday, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported 195 of Texas’ 254 counties were under burn bans, the most at any one time since 2011.
Among them is the Hardcastle Fire in Bosque County where David Carter captured the moments that allowed ranchers a sigh of relief through his camera’s lens.
“Those fire crews, they threw everything they had before that fire could get to that house,” said Carter.
His photographs show crews working by both air and land to save structures and prevent an evacuation of Walnut Springs, for which residents were told to prepare.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
As of Friday night, Bosque County officials reported the blaze was 45% contained with 600 acres burned.
“Watching those crews and watching the danger that they put themselves in to protect others…There's not a doubt in my mind had they not jumped in front of the fire in the way they did that the town of Walnut Springs might have been in a much worse shape than it is today,” he said.
The Hardcastle Fire is one of more than 1,100 the Texas A&M Forest Service has responded to so far this year.
“This will definitely be a record book year,” said spokesperson Adam Turner.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Turner said 2022 is shaping up to resemble 2011 when more than 3,000 fires burned nearly 3 million acres. But this time, he says they have more resources on hand, not just from Texas but all over the country.
“Texas has been a focal point of this year for wildland fire. It will continue to be. We are in a major fire season for Texas, so we will have the resources to respond. It just will be a continued effort until it rains significantly,” he said.
In the meantime, Turner said burn bans remain critical with much of the state now tinder dry.
“We often joke don't even think the word match or the whole thing will go. I mean, it's not really funny. It's really scary, and it's really that dry,” said Turner.
On Facebook Friday, the Bosque County Office of Emergency Management shared a request:
“A humble request from a bunch of really tired firefighters, please be extremely careful with anything that could spark a wildfire! The last thing we need right now is another major fire and conditions are considered extreme today."
"The majority of our recent fires have been "Road Starts". That means that the fire started at a road from something like dragging chains and discarded cigarettes. Of course, these aren't the only causes but they are some of the most frustrating because they're preventable!”
According to the Forest Service, 90% of all wildfires are caused by humans.
