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Fire danger rising during dry weather
Published January 22, 2009
SEGUIN — The county’s top emergency planner Wednesday warned tinder-dry conditions are creating an increasing public safety issue in rural areas.
“Folks, you have to be careful!” Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator Dan Kinsey said Wednesday. “The situation is going beyond burning trash and debris. This is getting into ‘Be careful with your cigarette’ weather.”
Kinsey said the county’s firefighters responded to three wild fires Tuesday, one of which damaged a mobile home and threatened a number of other residences.
At about 2:30 p.m., McQueeney volunteers were aided by several fire departments in stopping a blaze off Altwein Lane that blackened about 80 acres.
That fire was started by a resident who was burning debris, Kinsey said.
McQueeney Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tim Bogisch said the fire was a challenging one.
“The biggest problem we faced was it was a very rapidly spreading and dangerous fire in the early stages due to high winds,” Bogisch said. “Several homes were in danger at one point, but no structures were damaged.
Bogisch said firefighters from Lake Dunlap, Marion, Seguin and New Braunfels aided his department in fighting that fire.
“We were out there between four and five hours,” Bogisch said.
About an hour after the start of the Altwein blaze, firefighters were called to Sheffield Road, which is off Zion Hill Road in the Sand Hills area.
Kinsey said that one burned 80 acres as well, damaged a mobile home and threatened a number of other nearby homes.
At about 6 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to a one-acre blaze off Field Road.
“That fire burned up a couple of cars, including a 1970s-era Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible,” Kinsey said. “We believe it was started by a discarded cigarette.”
This time of year is prone to dry, gusty winds, and as the drought rolls on, the ground and dead vegetation on it are extremely dry, Kinsey said.
“Our drought index is 715,” Kinsey said, which indicates an extreme risk of wild fire danger. “We had that 200-acre fire Sunday off Schmucks Road, and that burned a mobile home.
“It’s very dangerous out there. If you’re welding, you need a spotter, and if you’re doing anything that could cause a spark, you need to be really careful.”
And unless enough rain comes along to enable some greening up or at least soaking of the landscape, don’t look for the county to lift the burn ban any time soon, Kinsey said.
“Initially, I had hoped when we declared the burn ban to be able to lift it again within a few weeks,” Kinsey said. “With all of this activity, I can’t begin to recommend that.
“Look at the cigarette from last night. When that turns into an acre fire that threatens a home and when a small trash pile turns into 80 acres at the blink of an eye, I just can’t recommend that.”
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