Firefighters back working Palo Pinto County wildfire after it rekindled
PALO PINTO CO., Texas - Firefighters are back in Palo Pinto County working on a wildfire that rekindled.
The so-called Storage Fire was once at 95% containment, but it rekindled on the east side and moved across containment lines.
Palo Pinto County wildfire now 90% contained
Rain over the weekend helped firefighters get closer to extinguishing a wildfire in Palo Pinto County, west of Fort Worth.
New ground crews and aircraft are responding to contain the growth and protect nearby homes.
On Sunday, a crew of 18 firefighters worked to douse the remaining embers of the Storage Fire’ that burned 975 acres in Palo Pinto County.
The fire is now 80% contained.
The fire continues to burn and fire crews have been working for 11 days to contain it.
"This is the Storage Fire that we’re driving past now. This is part of the original fire itself. We’re driving into where the fire actually slumped over this line," said Adam Turner, with Texas A&M Forest Service.
Turner said the terrain is steep and difficult, which makes it even more difficult for the fire crews to get to and to extinguish the flames.
Friday, embers of the Storage Fire crossed over a section of the fire line.
In order to battle it, a crew of 18 firefighters had to hike into the line and establish a new line, doing it mostly on foot.
Sunday morning’s rain did help douse the flames.
"They are hiking around this whole eastern side of this fire and they are working to uncover any smoke they can find, any heat that’s left, and they’re going to do absolutely do what they can to dig it up, put water on to it, put dirt onto it, and make sure that it gets out," Turner explained.
The Forest Service believes the wildfire is "human caused," but the exact cause is not yet known.
Mandatory evacuations were issued on June 29 and slowly lowered over the next few days for three communities south of Possum Kingdon Lake, Hell’s Gate, Sportman’s World, and Gaines Bend.
Palo Pinto County wildfire spreads with high winds, evacuations ordered
The Storage Fire has now burned about 1,000 acres and forced evacuations in the area about 65 miles west of Fort Worth.
"At one point, they were saying might want to pack a bag, so she packed some bags. When I got home around 6, 6:30, it was bad," recalled Eric Neal, who lives nearby.
While there were no homes destroyed by the wildfire, a barn and shed were damaged.
"They pulled out all stops and stopped it. The 737 dropped the wonderful pink stuff. It coated our property, but it saved our property," Neal added.
Neal is thankful that his home and barn were saved by the pink retardant, a chemical that slows down or stops the spread of a destructive fire.
"We spent the night out that first night because there were hotspots everywhere. It took about three pressure washers and six to eight hours of running them, continually to clean the pool decks," Neal said. "Praise God, the whole time you did it because we could’ve been sweeping up ashes."
There have been no reports of anyone being injured in the fires.
Meanwhile, firefighters say windy days could cause more embers to cause issues, but crews will not be working overnight Sunday.