Oct. 17th – 3 PM Update – The Texas Forest Service has reported the fire is 100% contained, and TFS fire fighters are departing Brown County.
4:10 PM Update: Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford gave an update that Texas Forest Service reports a 60% containment of the fire. TFS units will remain on site with fire fighters through at least Saturday.
11:30 Update: Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford reports that TFS reports the air service has flown the wild fire area and reports 300 acres impacted and 45% containment.
Friday 9:45 AM Update: Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford issued the following update regarding the wildfire southwest of Brownwood.
Brownwood Fire Chief Del Albright has announced that the wild fire in Brown County is not expected to be as high of a danger today as it was yesterday. There is no active fire on the perimeter. At this time, it is projected that up to 500 acres has been affected. Air support is currently evaluating the status of the fire for a more accurate number of acres impacted and the actual fire activity. The Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) has announced it is about 20% contained, which describes the extent of the protective line around the fire.
The TFS is Incident Command and is working the perimeter with bull dozers. The TIFMAS (Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System) has six trucks on site. The Brownwood Fire Department, Brookesmith and Bangs VFDs are also onsite. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Salvation Army provided food and care to the first responders last night.
At this time, no structures have been lost, and numerous homes have been saved. There has been no report of livestock lost. All evacuations have been voluntary.
Source of the fire has not yet been confirmed.
The Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex is NOT being evacuated, contrary to rumor.
8:45 PM Update: Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford released the following update –
Brownwood Fire Chief Del Albright estimates that 400-500 acres have been burned, and the fire is about 50% contained. Currently, there are unsecure fire lines and bull dozers will be working around the perimeter during the night. Cooler night temperatures has caused the fire to subside some, but the fire is expected to continue into tomorrow.
Several houses have been saved by the firefighting crews, and none have been burned.
The Texas A&M Forest Service will be taking over incident command tonight.
FM 1176 is closed and will remain closed overnight.
6:55 PM Update: The Texas Forest Services is reporting that the fire is approximately 400 acres and has minimal containment at this time.
6:15 PM Update: Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford released the following update on the fire.
There is currently a grass fire in Brown County located in the area of FM 1176 and CR 190. There are nine fire departments, Texas A&M Forest Service, TIFMAS (Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System) and helicopters working the fire.
The City of Brownwood Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator, Del Albright, is requesting all vehicles and onlookers avoid FM 1176 and CR 190 in Brown County. This creates an unsafe environment for the emergency responders and onlookers. Roads need to be clear for emergency vehicles.
Original Story: Multiple agencies are responding to a large grass fire approximately 5 miles southwest of Brownwood Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters from Brown and Coleman Counties as well as the Texas Forest Service were on scene Thursday afternoon. Eastland and McCulloch County firefighters were also on standby.
The fire began before 4 PM on the Horsepower Ranch on County Road 201 and quickly spread, crossing FM 1176 and moving toward CR 190. Traffic has been shut down on FM 1176 as the fire spread.
The Texas Forest Service was called to drop fire retardant from the air to combat the spread of the fire and ground forces are working to protect nearby homes. Several houses are being evacuated in the area of the fire. Volunteers from the Salvation Army are providing support of ice water to firefighters.
The large smoke plume could be seen from Brownwood and the surrounding areas.
More information will be published when available on this developing story.
Photo courtesy BigCountryHomePage.com.
