90% and 100% containment reached Friday
Two wildfires in Bastrop County have reached 90% and 100% containment, officials said Friday.
The Powder Keg Fire near Bastrop State Park has burned 117 acres since Tuesday and is 90% contained, while the Mesquite Field Fire in southern Bastrop County has burned 38 acres since Wednesday and was 100% contained as of Thursday night, according to Bastrop County officials.
Fire containment refers to how much of the fire has been enclosed by a control line, meaning contained fires can still have active flames. The Mesquite Field Fire, although 100% contained, has a few hot spots that units are working on, said Lyndsey Schroeder, the executive assistant to Bastrop County Judge Gregory Klaus.
“They’re continuing to run down that parameter line and make sure that nothing is getting out of the boundaries,” Schroeder said of firefighters.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning Friday, making it the third day in a row that Bastrop County has been under such a warning. The warning was issued due to the presence of dry fuels and weather conditions that can lead to rapid fires. The county also is under an outdoor burn ban.
Between the two fires, three outbuildings or sheds were destroyed, one recreational vehicle was lost, and the siding of one home was burned, Schroeder
said. No injuries have been reported in either fire, she said.
Seventy residences near the Powder
Keg Fire were requested to evacuate on Tuesday from about 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., Schroeder said, but people were then allowed to return home. No evacuations were ordered for the Mesquite Field Fire.