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As firefighters in west Texas keep an eye on a blaze that cut through the Big Country overnight, state officials were diverting resources to another growing fire.
Initial estimates put the Sanderosa fire's size at about 5,760 acres, but officials reduced that figure to 2,596 acres late Friday. The newest blaze, the Matthews Ranch fire, north of Albany, is estimated at about 1,000 acres.Residents were evacuated as the Sanderosa fire, northeast of Hawley, about 13 miles north of Abilene, grew overnight.It was the largest of several grass fires that started Thursday and kept burning overnight in Texas. The Forest Service classified the fire as 50 percent contained late Friday.Harrison said six homes, five hunting cabins, 10 vehicles and 20 outbuildings were lost in the blaze. An estimated 200 were threatened by the fire but saved.Weather may keep blaze aliveOfficials said they will continue to monitor the Sanderosa fire, especially because an incoming cold front could bring winds that will cause the blaze to pick up again, said Nick Harrison, regional coordinator at the Texas Forest Service."Due to hot spots on the fire and the cold front moving in, the local fire department is going to have to monitor it for several days," Harrison said.Firefighters from Hawley will monitor the Sanderosa fire as state officials divert resources to the Matthews Ranch fire.Clay Deatherage, incident commander for the Hawley Volunteer Fire Department, agreed that there could be more trouble."We did call it 100 percent contained last night," he said, "but a lot will depend on what the winds are going to do."When you burn that much country, there's going to be stumps, brush piles and cow chips that could burn for days, depending on winds."Although the cold front has raised concerns about wind, it may also bring some relief, said Ted Ryan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.Cold weather can boost humidity levels, he said."Fortunately, the wildfire and grass fire danger is not near as bad today as it was yesterday," Ryan said. "The humidity is a little higher and the winds are not too strong, but we will have strong winds with the cold front."Fire danger high across stateHarrison said fire danger was extremely high across Texas, the result of some hard winter freezes and little or no rain."We've had no significant rainfall since January 6," Harrison said. The vegetation is "dormant, frost-cured and critically dry," he added.And each cold front that passes through and doesn't bring moisture will continue to bring with it increased fire danger, he said.The conditions match those that contributed to record wildfires in 2006, one of which scorched 947,000 across near Amarillo.This report includes material from Star-Telegram archives.ANDREW CHAVEZ, 817-390-7957
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