Local firefighters in overdrive, fighting wildfires all afternoon-High winds and dry vegetation make burning outdoors very dangerous

TROUT CREEK, TX- Tensions were high Sunday afternoon for property owners and firefighters alike in the Trout Creek area.

All images courtesy of Trout Creek VFD Chief Jamie Bragg

Trout Creek Volunteer Fire Chief Jamie Bragg said that it all began at 12:50 pm today when the department was called out to Cr 4089 loop in the Sandjack Community.

Dispatch said that they were going to a grass fire, but once they arrived it was quickly discovered that it was also a woods fire that was threatening 11 homes, six sheds or barns, and more than 16 acres and it was burning fast!

Bragg said that once they arrived and saw how dire the situation was, they called for assistance. Kirbyville, and Bon Wier VFD's arrived along with the Texas Forest Service with a total of 10 trucks on scene. The exact number of firefighters wasn't noted at that time.

Incredibly, all homes were spared by the group effort, and only one barn was lost. Approximately 16 acres were charred in the process.

Shortly after arriving at the initial blaze, a second call came through at 1:29 pm for a pasture fire on FM 1004 East. Bragg said that two of his men were on that fire, and a crew from Kirbyville VFD took care of that fire with six men and two trucks.

If that wasn't enough, there was a third fire right after that at 2:56 pm. Bon Wier VFD was called out to assist along with the Texas Forest Service for another grass fire. A threatened structure was saved and around 1-2 acres were burned.

Bragg advises that even though there isn't currently a burn ban, all people need to be extremely careful right now when burning anything. "Pay attention and look at the conditions around you. Right now it is extremely windy and the grass is very dry. We recently had some rain but the grass is dry. With the wind as strong as it is right now it can be very dangerous to burn anything. Fires can get out of control and burn not only grass and trees, but also people's homes and can risk lives."

As if that wasn't enough, around 5:30 today, Bon Wier was called out to another woods fire.

Kirbyville Fire Chief Greg Ellis said, "It's far too windy to burn anything right now. It can wait."

Bragg added, 'I just want to thank all those who came out to fight these fires especially all the mutual aid. This would have been a MUCH different outcome without their help. We would have lost homes today... Probably several without them."