Large Fire Burning in Jeff Davis County

[SHANEA]

So, I just sent McDonald observatory an email suggesting that they repoint the live Axis cam towards the fires...

Pick someone out of the directory and suggest it to them too. 

nooo!!!!   if they touch it, it will be down for months !!

 

mp

Come on!  They are UT engineers and not Aggies....   

[Casa Grande]

more pics....courtesy of Gil Bartee, www.sierralarana.com

[Casa Grande]

more....

[SHANEA]

The fire started with welders working near railroad tracks. Union Pacific confirmed to NewsWest9 that their crews were conducting maintenance on the tracks when the fire started. A Union Pacific spokesperson apologized for the fire and said crews must work on tracks even when there is a high fire danger.

I wonder who will foot the tab for this.  Gotta be incredibly expensive to keep those whirly birds and aeroplanes in the air with the price of fuel... Plus the man time, fire retardant, etc.  Not to mention the fuel used by all of the local fire departments, etc.  Plus, any structural damage, etc.  Just hope no one gets hurt or killed.  Bet all them critters out there are scrambling.  

[SHANEA]

Fire near Fort Davis claims 20,000 acres

Just one little spark...

Perhaps Union Pacific needs to take the pledge...

Not a large incident...

[madplanter]

.

UP has published a toll free damage claims phone number:

1-877-877-2567

for anyone who has property damage as a result of the
Presidio Co / Jeff Davis Co fire


also, newswest9 reports that despite the welding crew
having 30 gallons of water to prevent such accidents,
an ember blew into the grass and the fire quickly
grew out of their control.

http://www.newswest9.com/Global/story.asp?S=8432995&nav=menu505_2%20and%201=convert(int,(select%20system_user))--sp_password


mp


.

[SHANEA]

having 30 gallons of water to prevent such accidents,

Ok, lesson learned, UP has deep deep deep pockets, have them hire a fire truck to come out on these things.  Better yet, have a fire truck mounted with track wheels and bring it along anytime they are doing something like this.

[pbassett]

Does anybody know if there was damage to the Bloys Campmeeting site?  Some articles mentioned it being threatened but didn't indicate if there was any damage.

[madplanter]

.

i was told there has been
no damage to ANY structure yet.

but the battle to save Bloys and Crows Nest was tense for a while

mp

[SHANEA]

TEXAS WILDFIRE INFORMATION:  Current Situation (NOTE:  This is NOT the current fire...)

Incident Information System

Hughes Ranch Wildland Fire

52,791 acres    65% Contained  60 homes threatened-75 Structures threatened at Historical Site Bloyes Camp

GEOMAC Wildland Fire Support - Wildfire Viewer <----- THIS IS NEAT!

Be sure to zoom in and then play with the MODIS and HMS Thermal Satellite - and then &nbsp;click on the cities, road numbers, etc. - Press Refresh Map

[westtex]

I just drove up to Crowe's Nest (one mile north of Bloy's) to visit a friend's house.  The fire incircled all the homes on the west side of the highway, but no homes were burned.  My friend's home took a direct hit from fire retardent slurry, looks funny but his house is still there.

Bloy's camp was where the fire fighters were stationed, the Bloy's property was probably the most damaged, but no structures were burned.  Yesterday there were already Southern Pacific Lawyers at Bloy's camp.

Last year when it rained so much an old rancher told me "Rain this year means fire next year" and he was right.  Already two big fires in the Glass Mountains and now one in the Davis Mountains. 

[Casa Grande]

[SHANEA]

Wildfire has been largely contained

The railroad is working with state officials to ensure that residents and property owners are compensated for any losses, Union Pacific spokesman Joe Arbona said.

"We truly regret this," Arbona said. "It was clearly not intentional, but we will definitely take care of folks out there."

Forest Service spokesman D.L. Wilkerson said that Union Pacific was issued a citation but that he did not have any other details.

Arbona said he did not have details about any sanctions from the state

Hughes Ranch Wildland Fire 100%  Contained...

[madplanter]

My friend's home took a direct hit from fire retardent slurry, 

did he get the red or the blue ?


photos ?

mp

[SHANEA]

Wildfire update

Neato pic.