Lightning starts multiple wildfires
The thunderstorm that produced a spectacular light show across the night sky last Saturday produced very little rain in the immediate area, but has been blamed for igniting at least six grass fires in Shackelford County.
Merrick Davis Fire
The first wildfire was reported to the Shackelford County Rural Fire Department soon after sunset on June 23, according to chief Brad Henry.
“We were called out to the first fire, which was on the Merrick Davis Ranch, at about 9:00 p.m.,” said Henry. “We’ve been very busy; we had five fires in three days! The fires burned into the night, much stronger than normal.”
According to the Fort Worth branch of the National Weather Service, a heat burst, caused by the rapid dissipation of a thunderstorm in an unstable environment, occurred in the area on Saturday night, resulting in an almost 15 degree jump in the temperature and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour.
The Breckenridge airport showed a temperature of 85 degrees at 12:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 24, and by one and a half hours later, at 1:35 a.m., the temperature had jumped to 99.1 degrees, and the humidity level dropped to 14 percent.
In spite of the difficulties added by the unusual weather, the Merrick Davis fire was 100 percent contained on June 24 at 234 acres according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
However, that was not the only blaze started by the storms.
Strike In Albany
Lightning hit close to a house that sits directly west of City Park at around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night.
“I had been in the shower about 10 minutes before, and if the storm had hit just a little earlier it might have killed me,” said owner Jimmey Grothe. “It popped in the house and it was louder than two double barrel shotguns going off! It was the loudest thing that I have ever heard!”
Although he initially thought the house had been struck by lightning, when Grothe stepped outside he saw a grass fire, presumably started by the lightning strike, about halfway between the electric pole and his house.
“I put the fire out, and the VFD soaked the area real well when they got here,” Grothe said. “I watched it half the night. It disrupts your sleep for the next several days.”
Albany Volunteer Fire Department chief Kyle Tischler was one of the firemen that responded to the incident.
“We were called out to this lightning strike around 11:00 p.m.,” Tischler said. “There was not much damage; it only struck the pole. But we really wet down the area because telephone poles can smolder for days, and it’s not safe to spray water up by the electric lines.”
Newell Ranch Fires
The Shackelford Rural VFD put out two fires on the Newell Ranch, according to Henry.
Owner K.C. Jones said he thought that the fires burned about 100 acres total, and were started by the lightning on Saturday night, though they were not discovered until almost 7:30 a.m. the next morning. Jones said it looked as if the wind changed direction, and the fire burned back on itself.
The Hamby and Lued-ers fire departments responded along with the local department.
Bluff Creek Fire
The Shackelford County Rural Fire Department also put out a blaze on the Bluff Creek Ranch.
“The fire on Bluff Creek Ranch burned about 30 acres,” the fire chief said.
Everett Fire
The Everett fire was located near the Shackelford/Stephens county line, where CR 112 turns into 287, according to Tischler.
“We were called to assist on this fire,” he said. “Due to mechanical problems we were not able to help on all of the fires that occurred over the last few days, but we did go out on this one.”
Tischler said that there were firemen from several surrounding towns trying to stop the wildfire, including the Albany VFD and Shackelford County RVFD.
“I don’t actually know how big it was, but it was massive!” Tischler said. “We saw firefighters from Woodson, Eliasville, Breckenridge, Hubbard Creek, and Waylon VFD, and I’m sure there were more. The terrain was very rough.”
Henry and the local firefighters were busy fighting the Everett fire on both Sunday and Monday.
According to Henry, who was still on a dozer Monday afternoon, all of the recent grass fires were started by lightning.
“The grass is not as green as people thought that it was,” he added.
The Everett fire was declared 100 percent contained on Monday night, with 2,246 acres burned, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
“We assisted with dozers and fire engines and an air attack flew recon missions over the fires,” said Phillip Truitt with the Forest Service.
Only about 10 acres of the Caldwell burned, said neighboring rancher Bronco Askew.
“We were lucky also; it wasn’t too far off of our fence line, where we have some cows on the Pritchard,” said Askew. “But it was mostly on the Everett. Now it just needs to stay put out.”
Big mesquite trees will smolder for days, and according to Askew, a whirlwind could restart the fire.
“About 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night the wind really picked up, and it was hot,” Askew said. “I’ve seen it like that once before that I remember, and it’s scary.”
Two firefighters were treated for heat related issues, but neither of them were from Albany, according to Henry.
