Caughlin fire: Blaze's forward progress stopped, Reno chief says

Firefighters have halted the forward march of the wind-stoked Caughlin fire on the outskirts of Reno, officials said Friday afternoon, potentially sparing thousands of houses and clearing the way for evacuees to return home Saturday.

In 12 hours, the Caughlin fire destroyed or damaged 25 homes and chewed through 2,000 acres, clogging the sky with orange flames and smoke. A 74-year-old man fleeing his home died of heart failure, officials said, and more than a dozen people were transported to hospitals for heart and respiratory problems.

Though gusts of up to 65 mph are expected to batter the area until 4 p.m. Friday, Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said, crews had stopped the conflagration’s progress. The blaze had chased nearly 10,000 people from their homes, closed dozens of schools and prodded Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to declare a state of emergency.

PHOTOS: Caughlin fire

The Caughlin fire erupted just after midnight Friday, as fierce, erratic winds spewed embers into brush and sent flames surging toward densely populated hillside neighborhoods. Authorities banged on doors to wake residents in the fire’s path and urge them to evacuate.

MAP: Reno fire

“The whole mountain was on fire,” resident Dick Hecht told the Associated Press. He and his wife were jarred awake by smoke about 1:30 a.m. A few hours later, they tried to return to home, but were turned back by roaring winds.

“I couldn't even stand up," Hecht said. "It was like a tornado.”

Meanwhile, some 450 firefighters struggled to stay in front of the wind-fanned blaze.

“We had fire crews leapfrogging each other,” Hernandez said at a televised news conference. “It was a very dynamic, fast-moving event.”

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Photo: Emergency personnel respond to a wildfire in Reno. Credit: Tim Dunn / Reno Gazette-Journal

Caughlin fire: 20 structures destroyed, thousands evacuated in Reno

A wildfire ripped through the southwest part of Reno on Friday, destroying at least 20 structures, forcing 9,500 people to flee and clogging the sky with orange smoke and flames as it continued to bedevil firefighters into the afternoon.  

The 400-acre Caughlin blaze was uncontained, officials said, and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval has declared a state of emergency.

The fire erupted just after midnight Friday as fierce, erratic winds spewed embers into brush and sent flames surging toward densely populated hillside neighborhoods, city spokeswoman Michele Anderson told The Times. Authorities banged on doors to wake residents in the fire’s path and urge them to evacuate.

MAP:Reno fire

“The whole mountain was on fire,” resident Dick Hecht told the Associated Press. He and his wife were jarred awake by smoke about 1:30 a.m. A few hours later, they tried to return to home, but were turned back by roaring winds.

PHOTOS: Caughlin Fire

“I couldn't even stand up. It was like a tornado,” Hecht  said.

Officials closed at least 90 schools to make way for emergency responders, the Associated Press said. At least one person suffered cardiac arrest during the fire, Anderson said, and several people have reported problems from smoke inhalation.

In recent hours, Anderson said, “we have not had any retreat from Mother Nature.” The National Weather Service said gusts of up to 65 mph would continue to batter the area until 4 p.m. Friday.

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Photo: Flames surround homes in Reno on Friday. Flames broke out in two areas in Caughlin Ranch. Credit: Tim Dunn / The Reno Gazette-Journal

Inmates may soon fight house fires in Georgia county

Sure, they may save your house from burning. But will they jack your flat-screen on the way out?

In what would be a money-saving move, officials in Camden County, Ga., are considering placing inmates in fire stations alongside professional firefighters, where they would respond to house fires and other day-today emergencies, the Florida Times-Union reports.

Inmate firefighters are used in some states, such as California, the paper points out, but they are usually confined to battling wildfires, and are supervised by a guard. Camden County commissioners are thinking about having them monitored by working firefighters, who would go through a training program to supervise the inmates effectively.

Times-Union reporter Tiffany Pakkala notes that the program would be open only to low-level offenders, such as thieves and drug dealers, who have demonstrated good behavior behind bars.

Still, some firefighters are less than thrilled about the idea. One recently asked the county commissioners if they'd be comfortable having the inmates respond to a night call at their houses.

Nearby Sumter County already has inmates working alongside firefighters, though it's unclear from the report whether they respond to house fires. Officials there love the idea: Because an inmate doesn't get time off, one incarcerated worker can replace three wage-earning firefighters.

Camden County is considering the idea because of a change in the insurance rating system that would cause homeowners' premiums to skyrocket unless new substations are built or more firefighters are added.

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Photo: Inmate firefighters in Tehachapi, Calif., in 2010. Credit: John W. Adkisson / Los Angeles Times

Texas wildfires largely controlled, but risks remain

The Texas Forest Service says wildfires that began more than two weeks ago in Bastrop County have been 95% contained.

Weekend rain and cooler temperatures helped improve firefighting in the area about 30 miles east of Austin, officials said. The fire killed two people and destroyed 1,554 homes, a record number for a single fire.

Actor Jack Black, who last year filmed a movie in Bastrop, returned Sunday to tour the wildfire damage and visit with some of those who lost homes.

Black was joined by director Richard Linklater, who lives in Austin but has a house in Bastrop that was destroyed by the fire. The pair held a benefit screening of "Bernie," a film about a small-town Texas funeral director, to aid fire victims.

Across the state, other major fires had also been brought under control by Monday, but risks remained, fire officials said.

As battle continues, Texas wildfire victim identified

 

Texas fire officials have identified the second victim of the weeklong Bastrop fire, a blaze that has forced thousands of people to evacuate and destroyed hundreds of homes.

 

Two people have died in the blaze, including Michael Troy Farr, a 48-year-old city employee in Austin who was found Tuesday at his home on Hudson Drive near Smithville.

 

On Saturday, officials released the name of the second victim — 58-year-old Vickie Faye Keenan.

 

Bastrop County Sheriff Terry Pickering told the Austin American-Statesman that Keenan was found Tuesday in the doorway of a metal shed in Paige, near where the fire started.

 

 

'Good progress' made on largest Texas blaze

 
Texas fire officials reported “good progress” early Friday on the largest of the blazes searing the state, as the Bastrop County Complex fire failed to grow in size and dozens of residents continued to trickle back to their homes.

The roughly 35,000-acre fire has destroyed 1,386 homes (the most lost in a single blaze in the state) and killed two people. It was 30% contained Friday, the Texas Forest Service said. But enough hot spots remained that, on Thursday, firefighters had to rescue utility crew members from their bucket trucks when wind stirred up some nearby flames.

"They are fine. Their equipment is fine," Mike Fisher, the county’s emergency management coordinator, told reporters.  "But this shows how, with the increasing winds and low humidity, the fire has become very active again in several areas."

The entire state remained a veritable tinderbox Friday, with scorching weather conditions; those conditions have helped spark 186 blazes in the last seven days, fire officials said.

On Thursday, weather officials announced that Texas had set a national record for summer heat, with an average temperature of 86.8 degrees from June 1 to Aug. 31. That bested a record Oklahoma set in 1934, during the Dust Bowl.

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Photo: Firefighter Darrell Walker hoses a tree affected by the 35,000-acre wildfire in Bastrop, Texas, on Thursday. Some 1,386 homes have been destroyed by the monstrous fire burning southeast of Austin. Credit: Ben Sklar / Reuters

Texas wildfires as seen from space [Video]

NASA has captured video and still images of the Texas wildfires from space.

The images were relayed back to earth by a satellite and astronauts on the International Space Station, including a Texas native.

Astronaut Mike Fossum, who was raised in McAllen, Texas, and graduated from both Texas A&M University and the University of Houston-Clear Lake, posted one of the images by request via Twitter.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected,” Fossum tweeted from the space station.

Fossum had asked Mission Control to update him about the fires, which have raged over thousands of acres in Central Texas since Sunday.

"Did you guys confirm that the state park Bastrop is one of the directly affected areas with the fire in that region?" Fossum asked from space on Tuesday.

"Yes Mike, unfortunately that's true," Jay Marschke replied from Houston. "The news agencies are reporting up to two-thirds of the park has been burned and hundreds of homes in the area have been destroyed."

"Wow, that's rough news,” Fossum said. “We're really thinking about all those folks through there."

Nicole Cloutier, a spokeswoman for flight crew operations at Johnson Space Center in Houston, said Fossum knew the Bastrop area well because of trips he's taken to the area as a Boy Scout leader and his years at nearby A&M.

"He has done tons of backpacking and hiking throughout the state and Bastrop is one of the most popular parks," she said. "It's just a very special place close to his heart. I think this is just affecting him personally."

On Thursday, as the space station flew directly over Bastrop, she said Fossum was in a module, looking down.

"He could see the burn in the land," Cloutier said. "It's nearly impossible to see something like that and not be affected by it. Almost all the astronauts, we hear them say after their flights that once you see the Earth from space, you realize the fragility of the planet."

Fossum’s crewmate Ron Garan, also tweeted about the fires.

"Prayers for those in harm's way," Garan tweeted Tuesday. Garan also posted a series of photos of the fires.

Smoke from some of the fires is also visible in an image captured Tuesday by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite.

Several plumes of smoke are visible in the lower center and left. The rounded mass of clouds on the right are the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.

The largest plume in the lower center part of the image is from the Bear Creek fire that started Sunday and was raging over 14,000 acres in East Texas.

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Video: Smoke plumes and haze from wildfires are seen across Texas on Wednesday from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/YouTube.

Texas wildfire destruction worsens: 1,626 homes lost

The destruction caused by wildfires in Texas is mounting, with the number of homes reported lost soaring to 1,626, authorities said.

A fire raging across the state's Bastrop County has consumed 1,386 homes -- nearly double the 785 homes listed as lost as recently as Wednesday. Blazes elsewhere in the state are said to have destroyed about 240 homes since Sunday.

The escalating property toll underscores the sheer magnitude of the fires -- and the state's limited resources.

The increases also reflect better information as officials cleared to enter the fire-damaged areas conduct house-by-house assessments, Melanie Stradling, a spokeswoman for the Texas Forest Service, told The Times.

Firefighters continued to struggle Thursday to contain the Bastrop County fire, which has been fueled by driving winds and scorching drought conditions, including tinder-dry brush. The blaze was reported to be 30% contained -- the same figure given Wednesday.

Photos: Texas wildfires

"It's still hot and dry, and the winds are supposed to be a little bit better, but it's low relative humidity," Stradling said. "The firefighters are working as hard as they can to get all these fires contained as best they can."
 
The Bastrop blaze is just one of many bedeviling the state. Stradling said that 20 new fires cropped up overnight, burning 1,422 acres. In the last week alone, the service has reported more than 175 fires that have scored more than 126,000 acres.

Limited resources continue to be a problem. The Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday that a converted DC-10 jetliner capable of dropping 12,000 gallons of flame retardant at a clip has been grounded because the pilot was forced by regulations to rest for two days and authorities need to prep the plane's fire retardant system. Fire officials expect to be able to use the plane Friday.

The Texas wildfires have claimed four lives, a number that could rise as inspections continue.

"Thankfully," for now, said Stradling, "nothing else has been reported in terms of injuries or fatalities."

View Texas fires in a larger map

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Photo: Firefighters knock down a house wall as they attack hot spots near Bastrop, Texas. Credit: Erich Schlegel / Getty Images

Texas firefighters get some help -- from California

 
The U.S. Forest Service has sent California-based firefighters and equipment to help battle wildfires marching across Texas, and California fire officials were weighing whether they too would send resources as their state's fire season gets underway.

The Forest Service has sent 765 fire personnel and equipment including 46 engines, nine hand crews, five bulldozers and seven water tenders.

The federal agency also sent a DC-10 water tanker to Austin late Tuesday. Those resources are a fraction of the Forest Service fleet in California, which includes 296 fire engines, 41 hot shot crews, 21 hand crews, 20 bulldozers, 32 helicopters and 18 air tankers, according to spokesman Stanton Florea.

Photos: Texas wildfires

Forest Service officials provided aid to Texas even as they were preparing for lightning storms expected to strike Northern California forests this week, Florea said in an interview. California-based federal wildland firefighters have been helping battle various Texas fires since February, he said.

Texas fire officials have contacted counterparts at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to determine if they would be willing to provide assistance but have yet to make a formal request, said Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott.

Pimlott said he told them that Cal Fire would be willing to help, but state and local fire officials have yet to send resources. He said his agency would weigh the need in Texas against local fire threats.

“Our first priority is protecting our responsibilities in California,” Pimlott told The Times.

He said Cal Fire must also take into account that U.S. Forest Service firefighters and equipment have already been sent to Texas, depleting local coverage.

“The more drawn down our federal partners are, both the state and local forces are going to have to pick up more of the responsibility,” he said. "We're not going to leave California unprotected."

But if Texas officials make a formal request, he said, the conditions there may outweigh immediate needs in California.

“The state of Texas and other areas of the Southwest are really struggling to get resources,” he said. “Back in 2008, we got broad support. It works both ways.”

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Photo: Two firefighters are worn out after battling a wildfire off Foster School Road near Needville, Texas, on Wednesday. Credit: Associated Press.

Texas firefighter pained by house he could not save

 
Battalion Chief Ken Gold spent much of Tuesday on a street in Bastrop, Texas, called Pine Tree Loop, trying to shore up the few houses untouched by flames. Few homeowners there had bothered to clear away 6-inch-thick layers of pine needles, which were bone dry and fire-prone as matchsticks.

"They kind of let nature be nature," the 60-year-old from Denton, Texas, said. "It didn't seem very fire-aware."

The 10-person crew scattered among the houses and scraped potential fire fuel away. But the area was littered with smoldering stumps and pine needles. Spot fires flared up and the team had neither the manpower nor the water supply to douse them all.

"We didn't have enough resources to be everywhere at the same time," said Gold, a firefighter for nearly four decades. "We'd see a column of smoke and sometimes we'd get there and sometimes not."

Photos: Texas wildfires

Gold was among the weary-looking firefighters milling around the Bastrop County convention center Wednesday which served as a command post for firefighters. The area has been among the hardest hit in a state raging with fires. So far, that conflagration has swallowed up 34,000 acres, destroyed or damaged more than 785 homes and forced the evacuation of about 5,000 residents. It also has claimed two lives, a number that could rise as authorities sift through the debris and assess the damage. Authorities on Wednesday identified one of those victims as Michael Farr, 48, who worked for the city of Austin's electrical department, and was found in his home.

The fatigue is visible among the firefighters. Their eyes drooped from days on the line, either here or elsewhere in the state (Gold had been pulled here from a fire in Possum Kingdom, about 200 miles north). Many couldn't remember what day of the week it was.