Winds made the largest fire, an 11,000-acre blaze near the Texas-Oklahoma state line, difficult to control, said Jeanne Eastham, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman.
(Associated Press via Matt Strasen/Amarillo Globe-News)
Strong wind hampers crews battling Texas wildfires
Winds made the largest fire, an 11,000-acre blaze near the Texas-Oklahoma state line, difficult to control, said Jeanne Eastham, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman.
(Associated Press via Matt Strasen/Amarillo Globe-News)
Associated Press
/
April 6, 2009
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WHEELER, Texas - Strong wind yesterday hampered efforts by fire crews to control several Texas wildfires that had destroyed four homes and damaged about 20 others.
The largest fire, an 11,000-acre blaze near the Texas-Oklahoma state line, was about 25 percent contained but wind gusting to 35 miles per hour made it difficult to maintain fire lines, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Jeanne Eastham said yesterday.
"Anytime you have the wind, it makes it harder to control the fire," Eastham said. She said the Wheeler blaze burned four homes and damaged 20 others.
The town of about 1,300 residents was temporarily evacuated Saturday after the fire jumped the North Fork of the Red River. Residents returned home late in the day.
Another fire, which had blackened about 2,100 acres in Jack County northwest of Fort Worth, also forced temporary evacuations of more than a dozen homes Saturday, but residents there were allowed back by midnight. That fire was about 65 percent contained yesterday.
Forest Service officials said 24 firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation Saturday.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
