It's Not Even Summer Yet, But Texas Wildfires Keep Burning Across the State

Gary Cheatwood is a member of the volunteer fire department in a small Northeast Texas town called Cuthand. He and others in the town incorporated the Cuthand Volunteer Fire Station decades ago. When it gets hot out, Cheatwood and the others may be tending to two or three wildfires  a week. Things haven’t heated up quite that much in Cuthand yet, he said, but they're prepared for that to change.

“It’s been really slow for us, and we’ve been in a severe drought forever,” he said. “We were in a burn ban for about a week, and then they took us out.”

He said things may change during the summer when the grass “really starts getting hot and dry."

“That’s really the bad time for us,” he said. “We don’t look forward to it but we know it’s coming.”

For others across the state, that “bad time” is already here.

Texas wildfires have scorched more than 160,000 acres around the state in the last month, and the blazes keep burning.

One set of fires that’s been smoldering for about a week is at Fort Hood. About 120 miles south of Fort Worth, the fire has consumed more than 33,000 acres. Officials at Fort Hood said conditions were still extreme, but the fires are mostly contained and don’t pose a risk to nearby homes and infrastructure.

Three large fires have burned together to create one massive one at the post that’s being called the Crittenburg Complex fire. Officials said during a press release that this fire was likely caused by small arms munitions training at Fort Hood, according to CNN. Col. Chad Foster said during a press conference that small arms munitions training usually wouldn’t cause fires, but extreme drought conditions made it more likely.

“We don’t look forward to it but we know it’s coming.” – Gary Cheatwood, Cuthand Volunteer Fire Station

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There are more than 700 other fires that cropped up across the state throughout last month. Collectively, they’ve burned through about 164,250 acres, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. (That's about 28% the size of Dallas County.)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has declared a state of disaster in several counties hit by the fires. "The State of Texas has been working closely with local officials to respond to dangerous conditions created by wildfires and is prepared respond to any emergencies that may arise with severe weather," Abbott said in a press release late last month.

Just last week, he declared a state of disaster for what’s being called the Das Goat Fire. His office said it poses an imminent threat of widespread or severe damage. It was sparked by a vehicle fire in Medina County and burned some 1,000 acres. Three homes have been completely lost and about three dozen more are at risk.

Abbott’s office said upward of 900 local and state firefighters have been working to rein in the fires across Texas. Some 400 other firefighters have come in from out of state to lend a hand.

Another blaze that’s required help from Dallas Fire-Rescue is called the Eastland Complex fire. While it’s mostly contained, it has burned through more than 54,000 acres and devastated residents and farmers in Eastland County, some two hours southwest of Dallas. In a matter of hours, 86 homes were reduced to burned-up rubble.

One Eastland County man, Jonathon Haralson, told The Dallas Morning News that his farm had been scorched by the flames. It’s led to the loss of hundreds of cattle and dozens of sheep in the county. “It’s a tough deal,” Haralson said. “I’ve been through a lot of these but not like this. It just wiped out structures, didn’t waste any time.”