Fires in Texas Rage…
The fires in Texas hit close to home yesterday, when my Dad received a phone call from his step daughter that there was a fire near their house. By the time he got home, there were volunteer firemen everywhere, crop dusters spotting, and a fire that was creeping to within about 50 yards of his house.
This is now Dad’s property north of the house, and from the pictures, this is the entire property other than the field where is house is. Thank God none of the embers that reached so close to the house didn’t get the house or RV and cause damage.
click link to see more of the photos and story
There is thought that this wasn’t started by a stray cigarette thrown on the side of the road, or a campsite not fully doused after use…but fireworks. There was still some fire burning in the ravine on Dad’s property this morning, and smoldering areas, and he’ll have to watch his house closely to make sure no more flash fires break out. All for the sake of fireworks..in the worst drought, during the worst heat…in all that wind.
Our state is in dire need of water. Some parts of the state haven’t had rain in almost a year. We’ve had the hottest summer on record for 3/4 of the state. And fires are popping up everywhere, spreading quickly. Currently there is a huge batch of fires in Central and South Eastern Texas (Bastrop and College Station), as well as a big fire near Possum Kingdom Lake (Palo Pinto County) over the weekend, and more fires popping up everywhere due to the hot, dry, and windy conditions.
We’ve received a huge bit of relief in the heat today with temperatures 30F degrees cooler right now than what it was 5 days ago. We’re thankful, truly thankful, but we need some rain!
I’m thankful to those Volunteer Fire Folks who helped contain the fires and save Dad’s house. And to the farmers/cropdusters who help spot the fires and where it was spreading to help the VFD get to where they could contain this fire. They were lucky…they contained this one.
Please, please..if you’re living in situations where there is drought, low humidity, do NOT throw your cigarette butts out the window (actually, please don’t do that anytime – it’s gross), and certainly don’t play with fireworks. Your laziness could’ve cost my Dad and his family their house – or their lives.
sooooo thankful your dad is ok… will be praying for you guys and for some relief from the droughts.
I was listening to a story on NPR this morning about the fires and thought about your dad. I hope you get RAIN!