Texas: Residents forced to evacuate as Game Preserve Fire spreads over 3,000 acres
The Texas wildfire, dubbed as Game Preserve Fire, originated on Friday afternoon near Huntsville, an hour north of Houston and has quickly engulfed 3,000 acres of land in its blaze. Residents of the areas that the wildfire has been spreading to were forced to evacuate their homes overnight.
As of Saturday morning, (September 2, 2023) only 10% of the fire had been contained, said officials.
As of Saturday morning, (September 2, 2023) only 10% of the fire had been contained, said officials.
Walker County’s Office of Emergency Management advised the residents of a neighbourhood about 20 minutes north of Huntsville to evacuate their homes. The recommendation remained in place Saturday, added the officials.
Rancher Andy Walker saw it as he was moving his cattle and evacuating when a massive crest of smoke rose in the sky, painting it grey and orange. He added how he was terrified of the growing blaze.
“It’s spooky. There’s ambers or ashes everywhere, if you stop your truck … you’ll have ashes all over your truck,” he said in a statement to ABC13.
KHOU11 reported, that firefighters were building containment lines and patrolling the areas, while simultaneously awaiting for additional combat crews to arrive on Saturday.
Many have been sharing videos of the devastation online, advising people to be safe.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas A&M Forest Service to activate an air tanker base in Austin to control the fire on Friday, ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
“Additional resources through this airtanker base will provide even greater support to state and local officials as they swiftly respond,” added the governor.
“With triple-digit heat forecasted for this Labor Day weekend, I urge Texans to remain weather-aware and limit any activities that may cause sparks or flames that could lead to accidental fires,” he advised.
As per the US Drought Monitor, Texas is currently facing abnormally dry or drought conditions with the temperature reaching 100 in the thermometer during the day.
