Fire forces Louisana town to evacuate

BATON ROUGE — A town in southwestern Louisiana is under mandatory evacuation orders because of a wildfire that state officials say is the largest they have ever seen.

Usually during this time of year, the Deep South state is addressing threats of imminent hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding. But this summer Louisiana has been plagued by record-breaking heat and extreme drought, which have made the wildfire risk unusually high. This month, there have been 441 wildfires in the state.

Louisiana’s largest blaze, the Tiger Island Fire in Beauregard Parish, has already burned an estimated 23 square miles — accounting for more acres of burned land than the state usually has in an entire year.

The fire forced the 1,200 residents of Merryville, a rural town just east of the Texas border, to evacuate Thursday night. The evacuation order remained in effect Friday. There have not been any reported injuries, but at least three residential structures have been burned, the Beauregard Parish sheriff’s office posted on social media.

As of Friday morning, the fire was only 50% contained and “remains unpredictable due to the wind conditions as well as dry conditions” the sheriff’s office said. Resources are stretched thin as firefighters work in hot weather and use local water sources.

“We only have so many resources to allocate to fires and once you are out, you’re out,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards, who surveyed damage from the wildfire Friday.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that he was deploying firefighters and other emergency personnel to Louisiana to help combat the wildfire in Merryville. Edwards said many of the blazes could have been prevented if residents adhered to a statewide burn ban that has been in effect since early August.