Lightning strike ignites 50-acre blaze outside of Burnet
FROM STAFF REPORTS
BURNET — A grass fire, sparked by a lightning strike, threatened a home, prompted several evacuations and resulted in airdrops to contain a 50-acre blaze in high wind conditions, officials say.
The brush fire was reported about 4:30 p.m. Aug. 19 on a five-acre ranch near RR 2341 on the Texas 29 corridor adjacent to Reveille Peak Ranch outside Burnet.
“It was right around the time the storm was blowing in. We had multiple lightning strikes in the northwest portion in the county near Lake Buchanan. We noticed a heavy area of smoke,” Burnet Fire Department Deputy Chief Leland Raiford said. “Crews were able to extinguish the head of the fire that was endangering the structure pretty quick within about 15 minutes from being on the scene.
The homeower was not on the property, located in 7200 block of Texas 29, when crews arrived.
“Initially, his home was deemed in danger, but it was taken care of immediately,” Raiford said. “There were reports that we had homes that were evacuated.”
The Texas Forest Service and Starflight performed about six to eight airdrops to help douse the blaze in challenging terrain.
“It was in a remote location in a ravine with a lot of rocks that made access to the fire nearly impossible,” Raiford said. “The fire with the winds and the weather conditions was pretty hard to handle.”
After crews contained it, the blaze re-ignited at about 9 p.m. due to 30-40 mph winds.
Agencies from Cassie, Hoover’s Valley, East Lake Buchanan and the Burnet Volunteer Fire Department assisted on the scene.
Crews stayed past midnight to contain and monitor the blaze until winds died down.
“Obviously, with the dry conditions that we’ve had, with the cold front we had Wednesday evening, it didn’t help. We were experiencing some of the heavier winds. Obviously, it’s dry outside, and it doesn’t take a whole lot to start a fire at this point.”
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