By Christopher Collins
The Times Record News
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — More fires caused by lightning plagued North Texas on Wednesday as severe storms rolled through the area for the third day in a row.
Wichita County Sheriff David Duke counted 12 fires in the area, the biggest scorching 400 acres off Reilly Road.
“That lightning was hitting everywhere,” Duke said.
About eight fire trucks we recalled to the Reilly Road fire, he said. Fire crews from Iowa Park, Wichita West, Wichita Falls and Burkburnett were on scene to extinguish the flames.
After evacuating two houses and dousing the area in water, firefighters had brought the flames — which leapt 30 feet into the air - to a halt.
“The fire departmen ts did another fantastic job,” Duke said.
At one point the inferno started to move across Reilly Road, which could have burned hundreds of acres.
“It was moving at a very scary pace,” Duke said.
The other 11 recorded fires were less severe, he said. Most went out by themselves or were extinguished by rainfall that accompanied the storms.
Kent Neville, emergency management coordinator for Clay County, tended to one reported fire at Farm-to-Market Road 2332 and Duff’s Crossing. He said rainfall saved the area from reliving Tuesday night, when seven big fires burned through the county.
“Lightning was popping all around, but we had gotten some rain on and off for the last 24 hours, so that’s what saved us,” Neville said.
The Ringgold and Henrietta volunteer fire departments put out the FM 2332 fire without much incident, he said, mostly because “it was easy to get to.”
Kelly Desautel, emergency management coordinator for Archer County, also reported about six fires Tuesday night. He saw two, one at Dugan Road and one at Lake Kickapoo, on Wednesday night, he said.
“They didn’t last very long, because right after the fires, the rain came and helped us put it out,” Desautel said.
Both fires were put out in less than 30 minutes, he said. Neither spanned more than an acre.
Duke, Neville and Desautel all said they were expecting fewer fires caused by lightning in the coming days because of sunnier weather forecast.
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