AP – Smoke rises from an uncontrolled wildfire burning near Possum Kingdom, Texas, Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Associated Press
Danny Robbins
2 pm/April 20, 2011
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DALLAS – Federal firefighters and officials from several U.S. agencies joined the fight against a massive wildfire burning 70 miles west of Fort Worth on Wednesday, the same day a Texas firefighter died from injuries suffered while battling a blaze earlier this month.
The fire at Possum Kingdom Lake is among several that have scorched about 1 million acres across bone-dry Texas in the past two weeks.
The federal team joined local personnel to help fight a blaze that has burned 150,000 acres and destroyed about 50 homes, said Haven Cook, a spokeswoman for the Southern Area Incident Management Team. It's the second time a federal management group has been assembled in Texas to help battle the blazes that have been burning across the state for weeks.
Litten said firefighters have had trouble containing one corner of the largest West Texas fire, burning over more than 200,000 acres in Jeff Davis and Presidio counties, but hoped Wednesday to institute a plan that would stop it by letting it burn to a road.
The Possum Kingdom fire started Friday and spread into two other counties. The 400 residents of Palo Pinto, about 50 miles west of Fort Worth, Tuesday night were ordered to leave because of the advancing flames, said Trooper Gary Rozzell of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The county's jail inmates also evacuated, as did the nearby community of Graford and the small town of Strawn, south of the lake.
Associated Press reporter Betsy Blaney in Lubbock contributed to this story.
2 comments:
Obama should have told Perry to fight the fires himself after all that goober Governor right wing nonsense about turning down the stimulus money and the RomneyCare idiocy.
Perry is such a hypocrite. He acts tough when he doesn't need the Feds but he is waiting for a handout when the fires start.
Typical Republican coward.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/baileywo/sets/72157626495611022/show/
Thought I'd share this amazing slideshow of the Rock House fires. The fellow who took the photos lives in the area. There are several photos of Buda, Kyle and Hays firefighters. Heroes one and all!
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