Texas Forest Service reports more wildfires, warns of ongoing risk
More active wildfires were reported this week with temperatures still in the triple digits. In addition, Texas Forest Service officials have called last month the “hottest July on record” for many areas in Texas.
The Texas Forest Service reported an active, 110-acre fire in north Lampasas County. The Spotted Possum fire is located northeast of Adamsville near the end of the County Road 3900 loop, and was 65% contained as of Thursday at 9:17 a.m.
Another active fire – this one in Mills County – consumed 98 acres, TFS officials said. The Pleasant Grove fire is northwest of the intersection of FM Road 572 East and Road 328 about four miles northwest of the Lampasas County border. That fire was reported as 85% contained as of Wednesday at 5:21 p.m.
These are just two of 61 wildfires reported within the state of Texas since Monday. Currently, 196 Texas counties have burn bans in place, including Lampasas County.
On Tuesday, Texas A&M Forest Service responded to 19 new requests for assistance on wildfires that burned 306 acres across the state, officials said in a statement.
Due to an “unusual August cold front” that progressed south, stalling near to Interstate 10 on Tuesday morning, isolated thunderstorms increased chances for lightning ignitions, officials said.
The Texas Forest Service reissued a fuels and fire behavior advisory for Central and East Texas, and it is effective as of Aug. 14.
“A flash drought is ongoing for the areas of concern due to persistent above-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall,” the advisory read. “This drought follows an early growing season where above-normal rainfall resulted in a robust and continuous stand of grass across the Central Texas landscape. This continuous grass fuel bed facilitates the ignition and spread of wildfires as the grass wilts and cures in the Texas heat and drought. The flash drought and underlying dryness have unlocked the availability of large dead fuels and canopy fuels for combustion. These fuels are now contributing to fire behaviors that increase the resistance to control of wildfires burning in high-risk pine timber in East Texas and oak/juniper fuel beds across Central Texas.”
TFS officials said a “persistent upper-level high pressure pattern has suppressed meaningful rainfall and produced the hottest July on record for many reporting stations in Central Texas. Consecutive weeks of 100-degree temperatures have accelerated the loss of moisture in the fire environment and contributed to the availability of additional fuel, which results in very high fire intensities.”
These very high fire intensities will support fires in the tree crowns and spotting distances of up to 800 feet.
Critical fire risk and possibility of “significant fires along and west of Interstate 35” continues, officials said.
