Posted on 09/04/2011 5:46:33 PM PDT by grey_whiskers
UPDATE 7:30 P.M.: Mark Stanford, the fire chief for the Texas Forest Service , said subdivisions have been evacuated there but they have no estimate on what structures have been lost.
People are being told to evacuate to the First Baptist Church in Smithville and Bastrop Middle School, Stanford said.
In addition, State Highways 71 and 21 in Bastrop County have been closed, Stanford said.
Update, 6:48 p.m.: Wildfires have consumed more than 6,000 acres in Bastrop County, and firefighters are still working to get the blazes under control.
According to Bastrop Police Department Spokesman Michal Hubbard, hundreds of homes have been evacuated, including those at the Colony, west of the city of Bastrop, and Tahitian Village to the east. Several structures have been lost, he said
(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...
praying I have had many family and friends moved out because of the fire...
stay safe.
I am in agreement with you.
He’s doing all one man can. I know he’ll call out the big dogs to help fight these fires. Thank goodness it’s him instead of some hand-wringer that would just whine and ask the Feds for help!
Not my first choice either, but he’s our governor and he’s governing. That tells more about him than being in some forum in S. Carolina.
OMG - just breaks my heart to see those pics. So good to see the air support come in though.
A dear friend of mine for 40 years lost her and her husband’s house in Bastrop. At least they are safe as of this morning, but they are still there.
My husband has a nephew who lives there as well - have not been able to contact him.
But I have not heard if any casuaties there so I pray all in the line of all of these fires do survive. So tragic about the young mother and her infant daughter who perished in their trailer, though.
Still heartbreaking stories told in those photos and this is FAR from being over.
I have just been continuously praying, and I know with God’s help, His strength and His steadfast love, Texans will prevail, will be stronger and will praise His name!
I guess Perry is smart because he did come home to govern his state.
That says something, even if he isn’t your choice...or even my 1st choice.
Six o’clock news reports from Bastrop said none were contained in that area. Count was up to 500 homes destroyed.
For better or worse, I think I’d have to let them go before I’d let them burn.
Zero hates Texas and WE hate HIM!!! :)
I just put the dog in the backyard. There appears to be some ash on my back porch. Not good.
When I let him in, I checked, it was ash. Very fine. Also “found” my recycle bin in the front, which had been moved from where I left it, and was sort of hidden in plain sight. In front of the neighbors car, which is the same color as the bin. It’s been out their since Thursday night. It also had quite a bit of gray ash in it.
But the smoke from the Ft. Hood fire is thinner than it was a few hours earlier. I imagine they have plenty of manpower to fight the fire. Something in the order of 30,000 troops are stationed here.
Texas Drought is man made by the gangster administration...
IMPORTANT FROM AUSTIN FD: MANPOWER REQUEST - IF YOU HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE AS FIREFIGHTER PLEASE CALL 512-978-1187 - MANPOWER REQUEST
ANYONE in Central Texas or surrounding states that has fire fighting experience is strongly encouraged to call 512-978-1187 - URGENT NEED FOR MANPOWER
If anyone is needing a place to house their equine due to the fires across the state. We have six paddocks that are 16x24 with daily turn out. Call us at 903-477-8078 Someone on the grounds 24 hrs 7 days a week. Two of the stalls are covered.
We are located in Athens, Texas.
From Daniel Caramillo
Anyone needing a horse trailer to help move up to 3 horses at once, call Glenn at 512-517-2517. He and his wife live north of Austin but are offering to help evacuate horses from fire area. Also the JB Wells Arena in Gonzales is taking in horses if you need a place for them.
Gov. Bobby Jindal in Louisiana just dispatched the Natl Guard helicopters to help with fires in NW Lousiana on their side of Caddo Lake, near Oil City.
Yep.....am not surprised he's ON the job during these fires.
Perry said when asked about his leaving his campaign..." I'm not concerned about politics right now...peoples lives are more important".
..and he's right.
Is Canyon Lake involved in these fires?
Oak Ridge sounds like ...trees.
Any word from that area?
I had heard earlier that the fire was spreading to the west of Balstrop. My friend and her husband, after losing their house, moved to their son’s house just west of Balstrop. Then she said that last night they saw the fire jump a highway and a river and that it was getting closer to them.
No more word from her since this morning - and no news at all about our nephew who lives there.
The nightmare just continues - and I just continue to pray.
((HUGS)) for all of you.....stay safe!!
I forgot to thank you for the info.
Sadly it just confirmed my fears.
The family got out safely - by turning around as soon as they could - the fire was going across the highway - and they made the decision to not go any further - (smart move, IMHO).
The video shows the imensity of this fire. I can’t pray enough!
My husband just came in and told me about this. Don’t know any info, but I’ve been following Storm Chasers some on Facebook. This link may have already been posted - I just can’t keep up.
https://www.facebook.com/TxStormChasers#!/TxStormChasers
One person reporting smoke in Houston county.
I live right by the Austin airport. We can see the smoke from where we live. News is saying that if you are within 20 miles of the fire to get a bag packed and be ready to leave. So my wife and I loaded a bunch of stuff into the van. Waiting to see what the fire will do in the next day or so.
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