By Tanner Anderson, Page Editor
A growing fire moved east in the Mulberry Canyon area, where 2 helicopters and around 13 fire departments from Dyess Air force Base to the Texas Forest Service battled to extinguish the flames that consumed more than 1,000 acres and threatened at least 7 homes and 12 buildings.
Within the mass of billowing smoke there were several wind turbines, according to officials it was too early to tell whether any of the turbines had been damaged. There were also a handful of houses and families that were evacuated, but so far no injuries have been sustained or any of the houses damaged.
Johny Ussery, a volunteer with the Nolan Fire Department, said that numerous acres have been burned inside Taylor County and that County Road 618 have begun evacuating other residents throughout the fire’s progression.
Allen Craft a member of the Texas Forest Service said the origins of the fire stemmed from a previous fire two days ago. The fire was created when a transmission line fell and ignited nearby brush and dry grass.
The Texas Forest Service and around 13 other departments battled the blaze with an air and land assault using two helicopters, helitankers and six dozers.
Craft said Abilene’s current weather conditions played a main factor in the fires ignition.
“There’s a mixture of low humidity, high temperatures, drought conditions and powerful winds; when you add all of these factors together any small spark or ignition can cause problems,” said Craft.
Around 3 in the afternoon Jay Jones a sergeant with the Taylor County’s Sheriff Department said that the departments battled the flames for almost an hour and-a-half and are making future plans to cease the fires spread by using back firing techniques; when fire departments put out a fire by extinguishing it’s oxygen and burning sources through smaller fires within the same vicinity.
The police departments and fire departments began blocking off roads near county road 360 and county road 618 in order to work on the growing fire and keep nearby residents and onlookers safe from the progressive blaze.
