Conditions stall progress on Hidden Pines wildfire
Low humidity, wind, vegetation keep fire at 60 percent contained.
The Hidden Pines fire raged on Sunday as firefighters facing dangerously low humidity levels, wind and pockets of unburned vegetation kept the blaze to about 60 percent containment throughout the day.
About 250 firefighters were assisted by seven aircraft
dumping thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant, but Bastrop County officials said conditions had stalled further containment by the evening.
During a news conference Sunday morning, Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said he was “cautiously optimistic” that crews could tamp down the flames further, but the fire’s footprint remained at more than 4,000 acres through the day.
“Folks, we still have an active fire here,” Pape told a few dozen residents at the Smithville Recreation Center.
“We’re at 60 percent containment,” Pape said. “That means that we’re not there yet. Just be patient with us. Patience is the watchword of the day. This is the toughest part of recovering from a natural disaster.”
More people were being allowed to return to their property Sunday in “green zones” at the northern end of the fire area. Noting widespread looting that occurred when this community was ravaged by wildfire in 2011, sheriff ’s deputies are allowing only residents to access those roads.
Officials are also combating palpable frustration among some Smithville residents, one of whom was removed from the evening update after he repeatedly interrupted Sheriff Terry Pickering to ask if he would be arrested for walking into the evacuation zones.
The answer, Pickering said, was no.
“You’re more than welcome to do that,” Pickering said. “But please understand that if you go in there and you get in a bind, we may not be able to assist you.”
But anyone who attempts to drive a vehicle past police barricades will be arrested, he said.
Pickering said his deputies are cracking down on residents who don’t follow the burn ban and have issued six citations. One woman caught burning refused to sign her ticket and summons to court, so she was arrested and jailed.
The count of destroyed structures was slightly increased to just over 50, Pape said. No injuries have been reported.
The fire is believed to be accidental. Pape has said that, around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, a rancher was pulling a shredder with a tractor through weeds and grass when an overheated bearing ignited grass clippings that had piled on top of the shredder. As the rancher pulled it through the field, it created a line fire, Pape said.
A U.S. Forest Service official leading the firefight said a major impediment has been “unburned islands,” pockets of trees that haven’t yet burned, which could intensify the blaze. Firefighters are using hand tools and bulldozers to dredge lines around those islands to prevent the fire from spreading.
“There is an extreme danger out there,” said Mark Morales, a deputy incident commander. “We are working it diligently every day. We want to get you back in your homes as quick as possible.”
Mark Rose, a general manager at Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, said utility workers were expected to bring power back to many of the zones where evacuees have returned by late Sunday, though he cautioned that his estimate could change if conditions worsen.
Rose said his crews expect to have restored power to all homes outside the burn area by Tuesday.
‘We want to get you back in your homes as quick as possible.’
Mark Morales
Deputy incident commander