Nobody that has not been involved in a fire that threatens and destroys homes can imagine the fear and anger you can feel. I have in the Tri-county fire of Labor Day 2011. The pictures don't even come close to how bad it was.
https://www.sheltonherald.com/neighborhood/magnolia/news/slideshow/A-look-back-at-the-devastating-2011-East-Texas-196072.php
I have never read a full account of how the community worked to fight the fire before the feds finally came in. We were in the shadow of the Bastrop Fire that got a lot of the attention and resources.
One thing the fire did is make me hate the Red Cross and be amazed at how people you would never expect show greatness. Adversity doesn't just build character, it exposes it.
We never did find out who started the fire. I expect it was a guy grilling NW of town. I saw the first wisp of smoke rising on that hot, clear Sunday afternoon. Just one clear straight column.
We also never found out who the copy cat arsonists were who started two fires after the 22,000 acre blaze had been contained. If you read more you will see various reports of the area burned but this is what I remember. Rumor was that the copy cat arsonists were a couple of kids.
We were evacuated twice and there were embers as big as the end of my finger falling in the yard. I helped out in support of the firefighters from Magnolia West High School where the command center was. Firefighters came back in with the headlights of their trucks melted and took stands to save houses with shovels and dirt after they had run out of water.
The Forest Service and BLM fire teams finally came in and the Fire Boss offered a town meeting when it was all over. In his nearly 40 years he said he had never seen such a hot fire. It burned stumps 6 or more feet down into the ground and raced up the Rattan and Yaupon into the dry Pine tree canopy. Yaupon has so much wax it in that it doesn't burn, it explodes.
Somebody should write a story about the Tri-county Fire. In the community effort before the feds arrived there were two young women who saw the fire and decided to do something. They were instrumental, but certainly not alone, in organizing the support of the firefighters effort. Red Cross and FEMA arrived and announced they were taking over. The girls and the locals said, "Like hell you are. We started this and we are going to finish it."
There is so much more to this story that should be told that embodies the Texas Spirit from the retired Marine who fed hundreds of firemen from his smoker, the nurses and doctors that set up the medical room where each firefighter had a check of vitals and necessary treatment when he came in, the mountains of medical supplies donated and inventoried, the spike room where firefighters could select anything from Copenhagen to snacks of any kind you can imagine, the bunk room set up that was air conditioned and the showers in the gym locker room. Churches set up shelters in the parking lots and took donations from lines of cars that came by. The County Commissioners and the Superintendent of schools and the local fire chief worked tirelessly in the background to make things happen. Firefighters from around the nation and as far as North Carolina would walk into our facility and stop dead in their tracks amazed at all they were offered and the outpouring of gratitude from the community.
After about three days supplies had begun to trickle, Houston had not yet gotten mobilized to help us but they did when we set up a Facebook page and got some press help. That morning the girls said they didn't know how they were going to manage breakfast. Somebody pulled out $5,000 cash he had gotten the day before for an emergency, handed it to the girls and sent them to every fast food place in the area. Firefighters were fed and the girls came back with most of the $5,000. The guy never knew where it was spent and never asked.
There needs to be a special mention of the HEB emergency response trucks that arrived the third day as I recall. Before the feds and the day the community was about tapped out for resources a fleet of red and white HEB trucks rolled up to the High School. They were packed with food and even had a tanker truck of water. There was also a huge all stainless steel kitchen truck that could easily feed 500 people a day complete with staff. They went right to work. I don't know if anyone ever knew who organized that rescue. Somebody had to coordinate it and other things but so many things just seemed to get done and not another word was said.
There was very little for the feds to do when they arrived but to fight the fire and organize resources such as the airplanes and special BLM wild fire trucks. They spoke of the "standard ration" and were quickly in retreat of that thought when they were told, "We don't treat guests like that in Texas."
Wow. When people DECIDE to take action it’s something to see.
I just mentioned on another thread about the regular people on Maui that got tired of waiting and organized their own relief and supply effort. It’s more efficient than the feds reponse and is getting actual supplies to displaced people.
AWESOME !!! God, I really miss living in Texas (50+ years) where People take care of People when needed. And watch out for those people who need help no matter how much or how little. Thank You for the Link from the current fire Thread. Y’All stay safe and take care.