By Libby Cluett | lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com
FORT DAVIS – Burning a 120,000-acre swath of land in the northern Big Bend, Trans-Pecos region since last Saturday, the Rock House Fire has destroyed 23 homes and two businesses.
The fire started Saturday near Marfa, Texas, and burned rapidly north to Fort Davis, where it burned homes and businesses, according to the Texas Forest Service. By Sunday the Rock House Fire had burned at least 60,000 acres.
The TFS set up a base camp for hundreds of firefighters at Fort Davis State Park. The park and the McDonald Observatory are closed to visitors.
By Tuesday evening, the TFS reported the Rock House Fire was zero-to-10 percent contained and had burned 120,000 acres.
The TFS announced that a Type I incident command team would assume command of the fire Tuesday. Eight Type 1 engines and four tenders, part of the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System, along with numerous air tankers and helicopters are assisting with the fire.
An image from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Terra satellite detected another fire in the Trans-Pecos region, immediately northeast of Alpine, Texas, in Brewster County. A Tuesday TFS report indicated this fire, named the Roper Fire, has burned 25,000 acres.
Like several other large wildfires burning in Texas last weekend – including the estimated 2,200-acre Hohhertz Fire in Palo Pinto and Stephens County – the Rock House and Roper fires were fed by strong winds, low humidity and dry vegetation.
Drought conditions throughout the state keep the risk of fire high. For updated information on the state's fire situation, visit txforestservice.tamu.
By Tuesday, several other large Texas fires continued burning according to the TFS, including:
• The 11,000-acre Encino Fire near San Angelo was 20-percent contained. This fire threatened dozens of homes, according to the TFS, but none were lost.
• The 5,000-acre Cooper Mountain Ranch Fire in Kent County was 25-percent contained Tuesday. The TFS reported access and containment problems because of several 200-foot canyon areas.
• The 103,384-acre Swenson Fire, in Stonewall, Knox and King counties, was 80 percent contained. The fire is burning in rough terrain and heavy fuels 3 miles north of Swenson. Four TIFMAS strike teams of engines and numerous Texas Department of Transportation graders and dozers are assisting TFS.
• The 16,500-acre Hickman Fire in Midland County was 98 percent contained. The fire reportedly destroyed 34 homes and caused 500 to evacuate on the south side of Midland.
• The 35,484 acre Killough Fire in Garza County, 6 miles south of Post, Texas, was 90-percent contained. TFS reports 60 homes were saved and one destroyed, but that fire crews made “good progress” Monday.
• The 3,355-acre Camp Bowie Fire on the Camp Bowie Military Reservation south of Brownwood, Texas, was 95 percent contained with minimal fire activity within its perimeter.
More than 983,000 acres of Texas land have burned so far this year, a result of dangerous, rapidly-spreading wildfires.
Texas Forest Service has identified more than 14,000 communities as being at risk for wildland fire. So far this year, the TFS reports 3,300 homes and buildings were saved, but adds that 231 structures were lost to fires and one fire-related fatality occurred in February.
In addition to the Texas Forest Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration contributed to this article.
Local News
Related Photos
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Thousands of acres burn just beyond the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains of far West Texas. Courtesy of McDonald Observatory
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