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A wildfire in Palo Pinto county grew past its containment on Friday after authorities previously confined the blaze.
Texas A&M Forest Service first responded to the fire June 28, when it had burned about 200 acres of land west of State Highway 16 about 4 miles south of Possum Kingdom Lake.
“We initially determined pretty quickly that it was a human-caused start,” Adam Turner, regional public information officer with Texas A&M Forest Service, told The Dallas Morning News on Saturday. “There’s not a lot of natural causes for wildfires.”
The fire has been named the “storage fire” since it began near a large storage unit on State Highway 16. Fires are named after identifying features in the area, Turner explained.
A mandatory evacuation order was issued June 29 for areas in the county including Gaines Bend and Sportsman World, according to the Palo Pinto County sheriff’s office, but was lifted June 30.
For several days, aviation, bulldozer and engineering crews worked to contain the fire. Texas A&M Forest Service announced Wednesday the blaze, which had burned 950 acres, was 100% contained.
However, the fire rekindled Friday past its containment lines, the agency announced. Texas A&M said Saturday the fire has now burned a total of 975 acres and is 50% contained.
Public information map for the #StorageFire in Palo Pinto County. The fire remains 975 acres and 50% contained. pic.twitter.com/cHDHsCQmqs
— Incident Information – Texas A&M Forest Service (@AllHazardsTFS) July 8, 2023
Turner attributed the breach to a combination of high winds and high temperatures on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Additionally, precipitation from the weekend that weakened the fire dried out, he said.
“It’s entirely likely that something that was still burning blew from inside the fire across one of our containment lines,” he said.
Containment is a measure of how confident responders are that a fire is not going to expand further, Turner said. Containment lines are made by removing anything burnable by at least a foot wide.
Using bulldozer equipment can make the line as wide as 40 feet, Turner said. Roadways can also act as containment lines.
No injures have been reported from the storage fire, according to Turner.
The Palo Pinto County fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire, Turner said. The marshal did not immediately respond to confirm the investigation.
“Ninety percent of wildfires in Texas are caused by humans,” Turner said.
Wildfires commonly start from vehicles. Dragging chains down a road, tires blowing out or parking in tall grass can spark fires, Turner said. Fireworks are another common starter.
To prevent fires, Turner recommended always having a water supply or shovel nearby when making an intentional blaze, such as a bonfire. Additionally, for high-risk activities such as welding, he recommended having a spotter.
“Reducing the overall number of starts is going to be incredibly important right now,” he said.