*Update 10:00am 4/6: The Texas Forest Service reports the size of the Camp Bowie Fire at 2,955 acres, 90 percent contained. The fire is burning on the Camp Bowie Military Reservation south of Brownwood. The acreage decrease is due to GPS mapping. Fire activity is minimal within the perimeter and little growth is expected.
*7:30pm 4/5: The Texas Forest Service states that they and the Army National Guard continue to work on fire on the Texas Army National Guard Training Reservation. The fire is 90% contained. The Texas Forest Service performed a GPS analysis on the fire and determined that 2955 have actually burned, a lower number than the 5000 acres previously estimated. Crews continue to work on fire hot-spots and will for the next few days.
*Update 10:30am 4/5: The latest from Texas Forest Service indicates that the Camp Bowie fire burned approximately 5,000 acres and is 90 percent contained. The fire is burning on the Camp Bowie Military Reservation south of Brownwood. Twelve homes were threatened; none were lost. The Texas Army National Guard is assisting with helicopters and bulldozers. A heavy air tanker worked the fire Monday afternoon to help keep the fire within the perimeter. Mop up of heavy vegetation that can fuel the fire is expected to continue for several days.
According to TFS Public Information Officer Alan Craft, Resources remain on the Camp Bowie Fire and containment is expected today.
*Update 7:30pm 4/4: Officials state that the fire is now mostly contained and firefighters are mopping-up and putting out numerous hot-spots at the Camp Camp Bowie Texas Army National Guard Training Reservation. Aircraft have still been on scene assisting local firefighters.
The Texas Forest Service has estimated that about 5000 acres have burned. Although 12 homes were threatened during the three-day fire, none were damaged.
Top photo shows a helicopter dropping water in hot-spots Monday afternoon.
*Update: New reports as of 5:48pm from the Texas Forest Service state: Currently 2 Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopters, an Army National Guard Chinook helicopter, a TFS Type 1 helicopter, and heavy air tanker are on the fire. TFS bulldozers and engines and county fire resources are working the 5,000 acre fire at the Texas Army National Guard Training Facility.
Around 3:45pm, three brush trucks from Early VFD, Bangs VFD and Brookesmith/Winchell VFD were requested by those in command.
*3:30pm – Fire Marshal Buddy Preston reports that 50% of the fire is now contained with firefighters working on “hot spots”. BFD reports that active fire was burning through the night and several crews are still on scene including BFD, Early VFD and National Guard along with their aircraft.
Preston reports that heavy air tankers flew dropping one load each of fire retardant on Sunday before being called to another fire elsewhere in the state. Today the helicopter that worked Sunday was joined with the two other helicopters giving air support to ground crews.
*12:35 pm 4/4 – The Camp Bowie has burned 5,000 acres and is said to be 20 percent contained. Military aircraft continues working on the scene according to the Texas Forest Service.
Officials at the Texas Forest Service explained the following:
“A fire can still be active when it is contained. If you have containment of a fire it means you’ve corralled it with dozer lines, rock features that cannot burn, a body of water, etc. When it’s 100 percent contained, it means you’ve got the fire surrounded, but by no means does it indicate that you have control of the fire. After 100 percent containment is achieved, firefighters wait until they do the appropriate amount of “mop up” inside the containment lines and feel the fire cannot escape. At that point they will call the fire controlled.”
The Camp Bowie fire is 20% contained. Firefighters along with military aircraft continue working this afternoon.
*9:45am 4/4– Latest info from Texas Forest Service “Over 3,000 acres burned. Fire is 20 percent contained. The fire is burning on the Camp Bowie Military Reservation south of Brownwood. Twelve homes were threatened, none were lost. Three National Guard Helicopters are en route to assist this morning.”
*8:30am Monday 4/4– According to Brownwood Fire Department, crews from BFD, area volunteer fire departments, Camp Bowie, and Camp Swift continue to battle the wildfire that rekindled Sunday from the fire that began Saturday at Camp Bowie. Officials from BFD confirmed that the blaze was started when tracer rounds ignited a grass fire during combat training Saturday.
Quite a bit more acreage was reported to have burned during the night. The night was reported to have been “pretty wild” for crews that did quite a lot of back burning with winds that were constantly changing and unpredictable.
Brown County precinct crews joined in to help fight the wildfire by bringing in water trucks and road graters to help make fire breaks. Officials said the Texas Forest Service helicopter and tanker planes were a great help to get some control over the fire which continues to burn this morning.
Sunday, April 3: The Texas Forest Service (TFS) is assisting area firefighters from every fire department in Brown County as well as Coleman VFD to fight a large brush fire that has scorched between 3000 and 4000 acres according to TFS officials.
The fire began Saturday afternoon at the Camp Bowie Texas Army National Guard Training Facility about 4 miles south of Brownwood off of County Road 267. Crews worked through the early morning hours to get the blaze under control. Officials said that around 4:30pm on Sunday, a rekindle of the fire spread rapidly due to strong winds and dry conditions.
The Texas Forest Service provided a Type 1 helicopter, 2 heavy air tankers, a lead plane, bulldozers and engines to help local firefighters on Sunday. A TFS taskforce is still on scene Sunday night as teams battle to get the fire under control.
Traffic down County Road 267 is blocked by law enforcement officers as wind moves the fire where it threatens to cross the county road. TFS states that up to 12 structures have been threatened by the fire, but no reports of damage at this time. Oncor Electric Delivery has been on standby as well due to a power station and power lines in the area.
Fire crews are working to get the blaze under control as of Sunday night. This is a rapidly changing situation, but we will update this story as new information becomes available.
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Photo above was contributed by BFD Driver/Engineer Jodie Horton.
