Helped by more favorable weather conditions Thursday, firefighting crews are progressing in their battle against two North Texas wildfires that have forced evacuations and consumed thousands of acres.
Firefighters expanded their containment from 15% to 50% Thursday of the 500-acre fire that destroyed five homes on Possum Kingdom Lake’s western shore, the Texas A&M Forest Service said.
“Crews are definitely getting a handle on this one!” Forest Service spokesman Adam Turner said in an email to The Associated Press. “There is a lot of mopping up left to do, but the current resources are going to keep working at it.”
The Chalk Mountain Fire was still just 10% contained after charring 10 1/2 square miles and destroying 16 homes. But the Forest Service says aerial retardant drops have reduced the fire’s intensity so crews could clear fire lines on the fire zone’s southern tip and along its eastern and western flanks.
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The effort included hundreds of firefighters, including many volunteer departments, with air support from the Very Large Air Tanker out of Austin and Large Air Tankers out of Abilene.
Crews began work Thursday on clearing a fire line on the northern front after focusing on protecting homes and other structures there.
No injuries have been reported as a result of either fire. It's not yet clear what ignited the fires.
NORTH TEXAS WILDFIRES
IMPACT OF WEATHER CONDITIONS
The battle was aided by slightly lower temperatures topping out in the upper 90s Fahrenheit with higher humidity and scattered rain.
Slightly more moderate temperatures in the upper 90s with high humidity and the possibility of scattered rain raised hopes of a natural assist in the Chalk Mountain Firefight.
Just as important, wind gusts have diminished from 30 mph to 15 mph, allowing crews to catch up with the flame spread and improve containment, said Terry Krasko, an incident management team spokesman.
HOW TO HELP WILDFIRE VICTIMS
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TEXAS WILDFIRE MAPS
