Bastrop, Tx–A racing wildfire burned 10 acres near FM 812 in Western Bastrop County beginning about 3:40 p.m. Feb. 8, “directly threatening” as many as 18 residences, according to Mike Fisher, Bastrop County’s coordinator of emergency management.
Firefighters from the Bluebonnet Acres, 5 Points and Bastrop fire departments responded to protect the nearby homes and contain the fire, which was fanned by a stiff breeze from the South and fed, in part, by exceptionally dry conditions.
In brief remarks to Bastrop County commissioners earlier today, Fisher said weather forecasters see little likelihood of significant rainfall in the coming 90 days. Bastrop County has not received significant rainfall since June 2008, and drought conditions in the area are approaching the severity of the record drought in Texas in the 1950s, according to Fisher.