Texas burning 'from border to border'

By the CNN Wire Staff
April 20, 2011 12:57 p.m. EDT

On Tuesday, emergency personnel responded to 10 new fires across more than 2,000 acres, according to the Texas Forest Service.

There was a chance for a brief break Wednesday from the dry weather and high winds blamed for the spreading wildfires, according to the National Weather Service.

But more fires emerged early in the day in Stephens and Garza counties in northern Texas, where officials are trying to contain blazes that have burned nearly 3,000 acres.

Since January 1, the Texas Forest Service said, it has responded to more than 800 fires that have damaged some 5,000 structures across 1.4 million acres.

Fire-friendly conditions are expected to return Thursday in various parts of the state, the National Weather Service said.

"Even if we get two inches of rain the ground's going to eat it up," said David Hennig, a Weather Service meteorologist in Midland, Texas. "We need a pattern shift."

Texas Forest Service: Fire dangers and advisories

West Texas averages nearly 15 inches of rain a year, according to Hennig. In the past six months, only 13-hundredths of an inch of rain has been recorded in that part of the state. While October through March is typically the dry season, that amount of rainfall is far below what it should be, Hennig said.

He said weather models show the possibility of more storms this weekend and perhaps next week. While the rain is needed, storms accompanied by lightning pose a fire risk, he said.

The Guadalupe Mountains face an extreme risk of fire through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

Van Horn, which is 165 miles west of Odessa, is expected to face a critical fire threat on Thursday, as well as the nearby state Highway 54 corridor and the southeast New Mexico plains.

One of the largest fires plaguing Texas rampaged between the towns of Graham and Graford.

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That fire, less than 70 miles west of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, burned into residential areas surrounding Possum Kingdom Lake Monday night, destroying and damaging homes in four or five neighborhoods, according to Marq Webb, a spokesman with the Texas Forest Service.

Possum Kingdom resident Jackie Fewell set up a blog to provide updates on the crisis since fire warnings first were extended to the 3,000-home lake community.

"I was frustrated by a lot of misinformation that was being passed around by a lot of well-intentioned people through Facebook and text-messaging," she said.

Fewell set up the blog Saturday as a part of the website for Pondera Properties, the lake's managing real-estate company, where she works.

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"We have been able to generate this incredible response," Fewell said, noting the site has served as a bridge between residents in need of help and those able to provide it.

"We get remarks from people all over needing help," she said. "If we put out a query to get 200 leather gloves to the area, we'll have those gloves within a few days."

Fewell said uses for the site have ranged from saving abandoned pets to providing real-time updates on properties threatened by the blaze.

The Palo Pinto County Sheriff's office said it evacuated 200 residents from the town of Palo Pinto and moved them to shelters. Two buses were sent to evacuate jail inmates, said Deputy Randy Hunter. That evacuation order was lifted Wednesday afternoon after fire officials assured authorities it was safe for residents to return home.

Earlier, in an interview with CNN affiliate KDAF, Palo Pinto resident Joe Lee said he and his wife hadn't decided where they would go before they evacuated, so they parked their trailer on the shoulder of Highway 180 and watched a cloud of smoke coming toward them.

"If they don't let us back in, there are several trailer parks in Mineral Wells," Lee said. "But if they do, we'll go back."

Dianne Simpson told CNN affiliate KSAN that she and her husband watched nervously as a wildfire approached their house near the Tom Green County-Coke County line, where residents had evacuated.

"We just sat out here on the deck and watched it burn, and it was just pretty devastating," Simpson said. "You're just sitting here going 'There's nothing I can do.' "

Wildfire ravages home but spares family roosters

According to KSAN, the blaze stopped just 330 yards from the Simpsons' house.

By Wednesday, the evacuation order for Coke County had been lifted, according to Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Saginor.

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