Debbie Copeland posted a video on Facebook sharing what she saw when she returned early Friday: nothing there but the home’s sidewalk. One family in Carbon found just ashes and rubble when they returned home. All three counties were included in the governor’s declaration Friday. Residents of those communities were allowed to return Friday, forest service spokesperson Angel Lopez told CNN Friday afternoon. The Eastland Complex prompted the orders across parts of Eastland, Brown and Comanche counties Thursday, CNN previously reported. “Probably as we are able to better surveil damages here in the coming days we will find more than that,” the governor said. ![]() Erdrich/Abilene Reporter-News/APĪt least 50 homes had been lost in the flames across three communities that were under evacuation orders a day earlier, Abbott said in a Friday evening news conference. “So we just ask that the community take sincere caution in your outdoor activities and practice fire safety.”Ī family walks through smoke Thursday after evacuating a mobile home park in Abilene, Texas. “One message that I would like to exaggerate and express is that we are not out of danger yet for our high hazard fire risk,” Eastland Fire Chief Joe Williamson said in a news conference Friday. Rain in the forecast Monday could help in knocking remaining flames down, CNN meteorologist Gene Norman said. The Texas A&M Forest Service’s forecast fire danger map for Sunday showed a “very high to extreme potential for a wildfire to ignite” and potential for “significant” fires in numerous counties. The complex is among multiple wildfires scorching areas across the state amid dry and windy conditions. It was 30% contained by Sunday afternoon, the service said. The Eastland Complex fire, in the middle of the state, reached at least 54,015 acres by Sunday morning, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. ![]() Barbara Fenley began her law enforcement career in 2003 as a patrol officer with the city of Gorman, the Eastland County Sheriff's Office said. Dozens of homes were lost in the flames and shelters were open for impacted residents, while authorities focused on containing the blazes, the governor said in a news conference.ĭeputy Sgt. Greg Abbott signed a disaster declaration Friday evening for 11 Texas counties, including Eastland, and said more counties may be added to the list as needed. Officials responded to 175 wildfires that burned through 94,840 acres throughout Texas in the past seven days, according to O’Connor. The largest active wildfire is the Eastland Complex in Eastland County and consists of four wildfires,” O’Connor said. “Many of these are new starts so we won’t have an accurate acreage. There are 23 active wildfires across the state, Texas A&M Forest Service spokesperson Erin O’Connor told CNN on Sunday. Fenley is survived by her husband and three children, the sheriff’s office said. Fenley gave her life in the service of others and loved her community,” it added. But with deteriorating conditions and low visibility from the smoke, Fenley ran off the roadway and was killed by the flames, the office said. Barbara Fenley, 51, was assisting evacuation efforts in Carbon and was last heard from when she was on her way to check on an elderly person, the Eastland County Sheriff’s Office said. A central Texas sheriff’s deputy died Thursday while going door to door and helping people evacuate as several wildfires ravaged the area, authorities said.ĭeputy Sgt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |