A fire south of Lake Brownwood prompted the evacuation of approximately 660 campers and workers at the Heart of Texas Baptist Encampment as well as other nearby homes Thursday afternoon.
The campers were evacuated by school buses around 3:30pm Thursday to the Brownwood Coliseum.
It took fire crews about four hours to extinguish the approximately 100 acre blaze, which was burning on both sides of FM 2125 between Circle P Heights Road and the encampment. The Texas Forest Service assisted in putting out the fire with an airplane and one of their helicopters in an area that was described by local officials as rugged and dense.
Officials report that one firefighter injured his shoulder and another suffered heat stroke during the operation. No other injuries were reported nor were any livestock injured or lost in the blaze. Two barns were burned in the fire, but no homes were damaged, although some were threatened.
Brownwood Fire Marshal Buddy Preston reports that a cigarette thrown from a nearby residence was the cause of the blaze.
Although the fire did not damage any property at the camp, heavy smoke was reported blowing across the area before the evacuation.
“The fire never got onto the camp property; however embers and smoke were entering the camp and the wind was in that direction,” stated Preston. “It’s was better to be safe than sorry.”
The local chapters of the American Red Cross and Salvation Army provided water and snacks for the young campers at the coliseum and also a dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, chips and water, which was made & served by camp staff.
“It was a quick response from the Red Cross getting food together for over 600 campers,” said camp staff member Chris McCannon.
Brown County Sheriff’s Department (BCSO) evacuated the campers as well as residents of nearby subdivisions while firefighters from multiple agencies fought the fire. Emergency responders including the Brownwood Police, City of Brownwood employees, BCSO, Brownwood/Brown County Health Department nurses and staff, along with emergency management coordinator Brent Bush and public health preparedness coordinator Emily Gore worked to gather resources and coordinate all of the evacuation efforts.
“It’s a team effort, everyone works together,” said Bush of the agencies’ cooperation during the evacuation.
“I’m pleased at how the operation went,” said Brown County Sheriff Bobby Grubbs. “I’m amazed at how quick we got buses there; it was quicker than I thought we could do it.”
Many of the parents learned of the evacuation by phone calls from their children. Some reported
hearing their kids upset and saying that they saw lots of smoke. Others got word once their kids were at the shelter as cell phones were passed around to let families know they were all out and safely away from the blaze. Once at the coliseum, parents were asked to show identification in order to pick up their children and doors were guarded to make sure none of the kids left the building unattended or with an unauthorized person.
One of the camp staff reported that his campers were overall a pretty calm group that the evacuation efforts were very efficient.
“It was intense, they got us out quickly and the kids were safe, that was the main concern,” stated Josiah of the DBU recreation team.
Counselors and the staff from the camp kept the kids busy with games and silly activities; two of them juggled fruit for the kids. Camp staff reported that the kids did well during the evacuations. Some, upon hearing of the fire, immediately began to pray or comfort those who were scared. Not having much time to gather belongings, many left everything at the camp, bringing only what was with them at the time. One camper, Laurel Kate, was swimming when the evacuation occurred and was disappointed that she couldn’t go back to her cabin for a few things. 
“I wasn’t able to get my Bible before leaving and I had to leave some really good notes (from the Bible studies) at the camp,” stated Laurel Kate with a smile.
The camp was scheduled to end on Friday morning, so due to most campers being picked up by parents; all activities were cancelled for Friday. The pre-teen church campers, who were from Brown County, Bronte, Veribest, Lubbock, and Odessa, were either picked up by parents at the coliseum or will be taken back home by bus. Staff returned to the campground Thursday evening and will be involved in a short camp this weekend.
See our photo gallery below for photos of the fire and evacuation. Video below shows comments about the ordeal from some camp lifeguards.
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