[Fot] Fwd: TX. fires

[Duncan Charlton]

We're about five or six miles west of the one that started up in Bastrop
yesterday.  300 homes lost as of the evening news time and the fire was 16
miles long and six miles wide, but zero percent contained.  Winds did not drop
much last night and will be back up today to 20 mph, no doubt with gusts
around 30 or better (44 mph noted at the Austin airport yesterday and we saw
30 here at the house).  This is courtesy of what's left of tropical storm Lee
(we're unfortunately on the dry side).  Although the cold front that came
through last night should bring cooler temperatures (yesterday was the 80th
100+F day this year, setting a new record) the humidity is expected to drop a
lot, which is really bad news for the firefighters.  We're in the worst
drought year ever recorded here (not the longest drought by far but it is the
most acute) so standing trees are turning brown.  At least half of Bastrop
State Park (Lost Pines) is burned up.   Holiday weekend means lots of human
activity involving outdoor cooking and alcohol + high winds + high
temperatures + low humidity = huge chance of fires.  We heard that fires were
moving at 40 mph during the afternoon.  Firefighters had to concentrate on
evacuating, not putting out fires.  We had seen a thunderhead building to our
east so we looked at the radar and noted a very strange rain pattern, starting
from a pinpoint at the north end and spreading southward for many miles.  The
fire had already jumped the Colorado River by then.  Strange in that it looked
just like a smoke plume starting from a pinpoint source.  I didn't realize it
would show up on radar as a rain shower if severe enough.  The cumulus clouds
were being pushed up by the rapid heat production of the fire.  It's still
hard to get much information about what's going on.  We do know that highway
71 through Bastrop is still closed this morning but hopefully the other roads
towards Houston are open now.

The sad thing is that this is just one of many fires in the area (there's a
pretty big one not far from Lakeway). The fact that there's a holiday means
more human activity away from concentrated work places, and therefore more
chances of new fires today.  That and rubberneckers going into evacuated
areas.  It's going to be an interesting day.  We have all our hoses and
sprinklers set out and the spray tank is on the tractor to give us a little
edge if it comes here.  We're out in the open and the cows and horses have
eaten the grass down to nubs, so the main concern is the woods down by the
creek and the trees and bushes along the road, which are all turning brown.

Duncan
1952 Morgan Plus 4 #6 red