Texas governor declares 152-county emergency

By Mike Baird
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times

AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry declared Brooks and Duval counties disaster areas Wednesday, a day after a massive brush fire damaged about 12,000 acres.

Brooks and Duval were among 152 counties, including Nueces, Jim Wells, Live Oak and Kleberg, in the governor's declaration. On Tuesday, about two dozen wildfires burned an estimated 19,000 acres across Texas.

The governor's move allows those counties to be eligible for state assistance. Burn bans are already in place in those counties.

"It was one huge, massive fire," said Tony Peña, emergency coordinator and fire marshal for nearby Hidalgo County, who helped fight the wildfire. "The wind was blowing just the right way, but it finally died down, and that really helped us."

The fire, which closed State Highway 285 west of Falfurrias late Tuesday, started in Duval County and swept into Brooks County.

The blaze was 80 percent contained by 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and turned back to local authorities, said Don Hannemann, with the forest service.

Officials at the Alice Fire Department late Wednesday said they no longer had any units fighting the fire. Officials haven't determined what caused the fire.

The blaze charred pastures but did not reach any homes, thanks to the work of nearly 140 firefighters from multiple agencies, officials said.

The strong winds and low relative humidity that helped to spread Tuesday's fires led the National Weather Service to issue a fire danger warning to 60 percent of the state.

Because of persistent windy conditions the forest service has stationed bulldozer teams in Granbury to respond to any more fires, said Pat Schaub, spokeswoman for the forest service. Helicopters in San Antonio, Austin and Fort Worth have been put on alert to be available for fire suppression assistance statewide.

West of Fort Worth some hot spots reignited on Wednesday in Tarrant and Parker counties, while some new blazes started in Young, Wise, Palo Pinto, Denton, Cooke and Johnson counties in North Texas, officials said.

The Texas Forest Service helped fight fires in about a dozen East Texas counties on Wednesday. No injuries were immediately reported.