Fire crews in Mason County have contained a 9,300-acre brush fire sparked by a bird zapped in an electric transformer. Firefighters got ahead of the blaze by using a technique called 'back burning' in which they intentionally started fires to prevent the blaze from spreading beyond a certain area. Courtesy photos
FROM STAFF REPORTS
PONTOTOC — Fire crews on Aug. 29 contained an approximate 9,300-acre brush fire, which led to evacuations and a large-scale containment effort in a remote area of Mason County.
“We were able to prevent the loss of any houses. We did lose some hunting cabins, some deer blinds,” Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden said. “It’s the biggest one since I’ve been in office, and that’s been 13 years. I’m just so glad we had no one hurt and no loss of life.”
Some ranches lost grazing land for livestock as well.
Officials say wildlife in a utility transformer sparked the blaze Aug. 27.
“With most of (the fires) this time of year, it’s started by lightning,” Bearden said. “The fire was actually started by a woodpecker that got into a transformer.”
A day after the brush fire, referred to as the Eaton Cemetary Road fire, crews began evacuations of about two dozen households considered threatened at one time.
The brush fire moved in areas along Texas 1900, then crossed to Texas 2816 and burned within a half a mile of Texas 71 between Brady and Llano, Bearden said.
The Texas Forest Service assisted with helicopter drops. Texas Department of Transportation temporarily shut down state highways due to the smoke.
About 12 volunteer and paid fire departments assisted including Abilene, Brady, Mason, Llano and Pontotoc.
By Aug. 31, fire crews were still battling some hotspots on the east side of the fire, officials said.
editor@thepicayune.com
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A day after the brush fire, referred to as the Eaton Cemetary Road fire, crews began evacuations of about two dozen households considered threatened at one time.