Local firefighters battle blaze in Jeff Davis County
Two Texas-side firefighters again are battling wildfire elsewhere in the state.
Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department Battalion Chief Alan Sikes and Driverengineer Eric McCasland answered the call Tuesday to help fight a group of six wildfires caused by lightning in Jeff Davis County.
The two worked through Wednesday night and were resting Thursday morning, city Communications Manager Lisa Thompson said.
The Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System, a program that enlists trained firefighters to help anywhere in the state, deployed Sikes and McCasland to the fires. A typical TIFMAS deployment lasts nine days but may be extended. The state pays for deployed firefighters’ work, including overtime, and their home departments incur no cost.
The deployment is the third of the year for TTFD firefighters. In May, Deputy Fire Marshal Capt. Chuck Weerts and Driver-engineer Nick Smith fought a different wildfire in Jeff Davis County, and Sikes and McCasland traveled to the Texas Panhandle to fight a wildfire about 30 miles from Amarillo.
As of Thursday afternoon, the combined size of the fires—named the Scenic Loop Complex—was more than 8,100 acres, and their containment varied from 25 to 75 percent, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
“Eighteen wildfires have been reported in the area, with six of those active as of June 6, 2018. Multiple structures have been saved. The fires are burning in rough terrain and are currently not a threat to any community directly,” the NWCG website stated.
Locally, drought and wildfire risk in Bowie County are moderate, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System and the Texas A&M Forest Service, respectively.
Moderate fire risk means that “fires can start from most accidental causes, but the number of fire starts is usually pretty low. If a fire does start in an open, dry grassland, it will burn and spread quickly on windy days. Most wood fires will spread slowly to moderately,” according to the TAMFS website.
ONLINE
Scenic Loop Complex fires information:
inciweb. nwcg. gov/ incident/5826/