Burn ban postponed, fires continue

By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer

Tina Kelley stood out of breath in the road in front of a smoldering field on County Road 237 on Wednesday, wearing a tee shirt, shorts, and one flip flop. She’d lost the other one rescuing her friend Tiffany Laredo’s dogs from a blaze threatening to engulf their kennels, then chasing them down to get them home. One of the dogs cooled himself in a puddle next to a running waterhose, lapping water as he rolled around. Others stood tied to fence posts as they searched for the others. No one, human or canine, was injured.

The fire, which Kelley said started with a neighbor burning garbage, spread quickly, as have most in recent days. It was the fourteenth fire in three days, and the second that destroyed structures.

Sunday, 235 acres south of La Ward burned, including a large portion of the Formosa Tejano Wetlands, followed by several fires Monday. By Wednesday, they’d showed no sign of stopping.

County Commissioners met Tuesday and opted not to enact a burn ban, citing agricultural needs to burn off foliage. They said they would revisit the problem if the fires persisted.

A large part of the problem, according to firefighters is that while the ground is very moist, leading people into a false sense of confidence that their fire will be easily controllable with little effort or oversight. However, despite the wet ground, the grass and other foliage is very dry, meaning fires spread quickly.

Carancahua Volunteer Fire Department Chief Craig Brooks said the moist ground does, however, make it difficult to get a fire truck out to fires, as they are so heavy.

What this means is firefighters have to wait until the fire spreads close enough to them to reach, and more acreage burns than otherwise would.

Commissioners and firefighters wish to remind citizens that controlled burns can get out of control quickly, and conditions are perfect for quick spread of flames and in a rural area, firefighters are sometimes miles away.