PALO PINTO COUNTY, Texas — In Palo Pinto County, nearly 1,000 acres have burned in a wildfire.
As of July 4, the fire was 100% contained. Officials said on July 7 ember blew across containment lines and the fire rekindled on the east flank.
On July 9, the fire dropped down to 90% contained. Ground crews and aircraft responded to contain the additional growth, and forward progression was stopped.
On July 10, the fire rose to 98% containment.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said the fire was called the “storage fire” because it started behind a storage unit off TX-16 in Strawn.
“We’ve ruled out any natural causes, so it is a human-caused fire,” said Adam Turner, the public information officer for Texas A&M Forest Service.
On June 30, Black Hawk helicopters and large air tankers dropped water and fire retardant from sunrise to sunset.
Every year, wildfires spread in Palo Pinto County. Turner said Texas A&M Forest Service are constantly preparing for it. It takes first responders and resources from in and out of the state to save people and property.
The Texas A&M Forest Service says not using fireworks, not dragging chains on trailers and keeping vehicle tires fully inflated are the easiest ways to prevent such fires.
Human-started fires like this one leave Billy Horton frustrated. His family has owned a property in the Sportsman’s World neighborhood since 1976.
“I don’t know when people are going to learn, y'know, to quit doing things that start fires this time of year,” said Horton.
Someone else’s mistake leaves Horton with a destroyed barn and equipment that will cost him more than $100,000 to replace. Horton said this isn’t the first time he’s had property damaged by fire.
“It brings back memories from 2012," he said. "We had a really bad fire from 2012, and it burned a lot of this."
The fire started on June 28. Horton saw it get worse the afternoon of June 29 when the flames took over his property. He said firefighters saved his house.
"They never thought twice,” Horton said with tears in his eyes on Friday. "We’re standing here talking right now, but yesterday, there were flames about fifty feet in the air here. It was an inferno and these guys were fighting it."
For Craig Elliott, an Arlington resident who owns a cabin near Possum Kingdom Lake, Friday was wait-and-see. Elliott, who decided not to evacuate, watched the fire approach his cabin on Thursday.
“Everything went bad,” Elliott said. "It came through around the corner like a firestorm. It was just an inferno. I just prayed."
Elliott credited the work of firefighters for working around the clock to contain the fire.
"The trees will come back," Elliott said. "They saved everyone."