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This is the current Texas wildfire situation.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  September 5th, 2011 at 11:00 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Just to make it clear precisely what we’re talking about, here: it’s not good. 25,000 acres burned so far, and the state is apparently as dry as a bone right now, thanks to a drought. Let me show you the extent of the problem:

That picture is taken from Weather Underground’s WunderMap (as of roughly 10 PM EDT, September 5, 2011*). The red flames represent fires, obviously: the dark smudges represent smoke cover. Just in case the picture isn’t loading for you on your particular platform, let me sum it up for you: A LARGE PORTION OF CENTRAL AND EAST TEXAS IS ON FIRE RIGHT NOW.

I understand that there are people trying to politicize this situation, for their own purposes. I invite all of them to shut up and instead do something useful, like send their readers or listeners over to the American Red Cross.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Another map can be found here, courtesy of @bdomenech.

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COMMENTS

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  • Bill S

    Take a look at the map. There are MANY fires in east Texas. If YOU were a resident of this area, wouldn’t YOU expect YOUR governor to be around to monitor the situation and help you and your fellow residents deal with the issues around the fires? Wouldn’t you be just a wee bit pissed if it appeared that your governor was more concerned about making a debate appearance instead of, you know, doing his job?

    Those here on RS who are b****ing about Governor Perry missing the DeMint event need to get some perspective and/or stop blindly shilling for their fave, just for a moment.

  • mjsamuelson

    I mostly only have information on Central Texas relief but I’m looking for east Texas and Houston-area relief info as well. http://blue-dot-blues.blogspot.com/2011/09/wildfire-relief-in-central-texas.html

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    We don’t auto-enable links anymore, but it looked useful. :)

  • Flagstaff

    more firefighters and people with horse trailers to volunteer. Phone number below.

    From friends in Texas:

    ATTENTION TEXAS AND SURROUNDING AREAS.. WE NEED FIREMEN!!!! Begging for retired and any fireman to call number to help. We were short 25 fireman last night. Cannot contain town of Bastrop, 35 miles away…fire is 16 miles long, 6 miles wide, jumped Colorado river, evacuated entire town and also neighborhood called Steiner ranch of 5500* PLEASE EVERYONE REPOST EVEN IF NOT IN TEXAS.. SOME OF YOUR FRIENDS MAY BE. HELP!! Call 512-978-1187 Please REPOST!

  • windwaker24

    Perry needs to be in Texas, not “yukking it up” on TV. There is plenty of time for debate. He is the governor. He needs to be in the supportive role, even if he can’t physically put the fires himself, whether that’s calling in reinforcements or making sure there’s enough ink in the pens to sign off on stuff! I would want my governor WORKING! Any other candidate who has a problem with him leaving, IMHO, has proven themselves not to be Presidental material!

  • chbroussard

    Approximately 8,000 evacuated from their homes. Magnolia ISD has canceled school tomorrow due to the danger. We are literally burning up here in Texas. My thanks to Gov. Perry for coming back home. Right now his first responsibility is our state.

  • http://whattoreadtoday.blogspot.com/ Paula

    Global Incident Map

    Just don’t look at the rest of the “global incidents” if you want to get any sleep tonight.

    Praying for ya’ll in TX. I just heard on the news that a mother and child were killed when they were trapped by the fire in their trailer. What a tragedy.

  • pttx333

    have jumped the Colorado River multiple times and the last count of homes destroyed just in the Bastrop area is 500. Total acreage the last I heard is 32,000 acres in Texas have burned. A mother and her baby died in a house fire in East Texas – the fire consumed the home so fast they couldn’t get out.

    Here in the Houston area, you can smell the smoke when you go outside. There are fires just to our north also. It is bad, bad, bad. Due to the extended exceptional drought, everything in Texas is ready to go up at any time.

    Perry is our governor, and he was right to come home. His duty is here just now, and he has never been a shirker when it comes to duty. For those who slam him, try to live in our shoes and stop being so damned smug!

  • Veronica

    Go straight to the source.

    An example of the the evacuation orders coming from the National Weather Service via NOAA:

    http://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=TX20110906051100FireWarning20110906090000TX.EWXFRWEWX.4dd678cb0516d58a6d3db5ebffb52932

    Latest alerts updated regularly (what your weathergirl tells you — print it out for yourself or pass it along!):

    http://alerts.weather.gov/cap/tx.php?x=1

    Search for your own RSS feed for your county in Texas:

    http://alerts.weather.gov/cap/tx.php?x=3

    Lastly, google “emergency management” for your county to get more updates.

    Twitter feeds are awesome. Faster than the news — television and print/websites. .. but I may be speaking for Austin. Not sure about other cities.

    Pack and be prepared. Firefighter friend says when the order comes to evacuate, there’s no time to gather things.

    Watch the horizon. Try to work remote this week. Weather service anticipates wind kicking up again by Thursday.

    God bless .. and don’t be embarrassed to ask your friend to eat his own cigarette butt. :)

  • rowdydfw

    Over 100 horses, and a lot of out of Bastrop livestock tonight. As well as took the last old clunker pumper truck from the volunteer fire department over there earlier today. The pine forests were so dense with foliage from winter/spring rains and it had dried out in 100+ temps since early June, it was like a gas fire waiting for a spark, then whoosh! And the wind is spreading it so fast they don’t dare get in front of it to try to stop it.

    The Austin Fire Department, tonight has issued a ‘check with them before sending more fire fighting volunteers.’ The fires are cropping up everywhere and volunteers need to be deployed correctly.

    A family member was evacuated from Walker County in East Texas earllier today and headed west…had to go down all the way to San Antonio, around it because of the Bastrop fires blocking 290 and 71.

    Yes, Governor Perry needed to return and make sure his staff is deploying relief correctly to these fire fighters. Some are saying, well, what can he do? He’s the captain of this ship, and where needed he can bark a command and get things done. Texas is in flames, folks…

  • pttx333

    and family all around the state and it is very scary. Your links will certainly help those of us who need all the resources we can find.

  • Veronica

    http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?id=12888

  • Veronica

    :)

    Stay safe.

  • pttx333

    there are others out there who care. After reading some of the crapola on the net, it is comforting to know that RS has truly nice, caring, decent folks who are concerned. Thanks again … and thanks to all.

  • JustLeaveMeAlone

    Not hearing about any relief efforts here at the moment; maybe in the morning. Right now the biggest problem seems to be the large wildfire in Magnolia — NNE of town but rumored to be heading south, although I did hear that the southern line is holding at present.

    Lots of Houston area people have been offering help to those in the Bastrop area, in particular; those folks “hosted” many of us when we had to head inland from Ike three years ago.

    The Texas Storm Chasers page on FB has lots of good and timely info.

  • brianm

    After the unbelievable coverage the hurricanes got it is a bit frustrating to see so little attention being paid to our state literally being on fire. I read earlier this evening that the amount of our state on fire right now is equal to the entire state of connecticut. I want Gov. Perry to become our next President and to debate the rest of the field as much as the next person but we need our Governor in Texas right now. It is nice to see some on here understand that.

  • pttx333

    There isn’t one word that I don’t agree with 100%. We are in dire straits down here and not a soul on the national level gives a big rip. I can just envision b.o. and his minions dancing with glee.

    Yes, Perry is the only logical choice for me. I was thrilled beyond words when I learned he was going to run. Do I agree with him 100%? No, but he is MY candidate, regardless. And I’m so proud of him for coming back home – that is his place just now with all of the emergencies in the state. And from what I’m reading on other websites, the vast majority of the commentors are saying that he did the thing a true leader would do. And Perry is that – a TRUE LEADER. He has proven it to us, now let’s hope the message gets across to the rest of the nation. I believe he will come across head and shoulders above the others in the debates.

    RS is a good site – I found it only 2-3 weeks ago and really enjoy it. The folks are great and good debates occur on a regular basis. If you are new, welcome. If not, thanks for putting up with me. ;-)

  • joetexan

    The local ABC affiliate is covering the fires. I heard about the situation in Bastrop from them. I used to drive through there every weekend back in the early 80s, going from Lackland AFB to my hometown of Cleveland. I owned some land in Magnolia before I moved to Kansas City.

    My mom and niece still live northeast of Houston in the Piney Woods between Cleveland and Dayton. I haven’t heard from them, so today will be a good time to call.

    Then there’s the Blue Bell creamery and company headquarters in Brenham. I hope they protect it at all costs. A lot of my discretionary income goes to Texas thanks to Blue Bell ice cream.

  • pttx333

    be sure to give them a call anyway. I’ve been up all night monitoring.

    You wouldn’t recognize Texas now – everything is so dry. Even in beautiful Brenham where Blue Bell is located it is so brown and burned from the sun and lack of rain. In the Houston area where I live there are over 1,000 water main breaks in Houston each and every day due to the ground being so dry. Have also heard of water and drain lines breaking in homes due to the ground shifting. I went through the horrible drought as a kid in the early 1950′s and remember it well, but I believe this drought takes the blue ribbon. I’ve even been praying for a hurricane and was disappointed when Irene went to the NE. And I’m not the only one.

    I hope your family remains safe and that something gives for the entire state. We really need some relief.

  • LoneStarSon

    smoke billowing across the sky from the front deck at my lake house. You feel so helpless as you can see two fires raging in two very different areas. All I have been able to do is pray for those involved. The fires near my lake home started on Saturday before the others began to burn further south. I live in the north part of Central Texas and also have a home in the south part of North Texas. I have shed many tears thinking about the young mother and her child that lost their lives near Gladewater, TX. Fires are so destructive. We have endured record heat in Central Texas this year and it was so refreshing to have the cooler weather. Unfortunately, with the cooler weather came dryer air and our drought stricken state is now burning.

    Perry made the right decision to come home.

    May God be with the family of those that perished, protect the firefighters, and get these fires put out.

  • texasjohn

    for wanting at least a tropical storm to come across Texas, but I think that’s the only thing that will help now. A friend flew in from Virginia a couple weeks ago, and he said Texas looked terrible, brown and dry almost as far as the eye could see.

    God help and protect the firefighters and people in the path of the destruction. And God bless Gov. Perry for having his priorities straight.

  • texasjohn

    was watching Dems in Perry’s own state taking shots at him for coming back to Texas. The cow on tv called it a political stunt, and said something to the effect that if she didn’t see Perry in a hard hat with a shovel in his hand, she didn’t see how his presence was necessary. Personally, I don’t see how Democrats are necessary at all, but I suppose you have to have the ridiculous to appreciate the sublime…

  • msctex

    . . .the other day during the East Coast storm, trying to appear as though he had something to do, was an act of statesmanship of the highest caliber.

    Once you understand they are always right and we are always wrong, many of these jagged little pieces suddenly fit neatly into place.

  • pttx333

    The fires have now consumed more than 1,000 homes and 100,000 acres across the state. This is indeed a huge disaster.

    For a number of years, my son was a volunteer EMT and volunteer firefighter in addition to working his normal job. He had to quit due to developing health problems incurred during the firefighting years. They are in such very real danger every single time they go out on a call.

    Please pray for this state, the residents, the firefighters and all of those assisting in the fight to control these fires.

  • pttx333

    at this point. If it takes a hurricane, so be it. Guess I’ll have to sit in the corner and be roundly chastised, but what can I say? The truth is the truth – we need RAIN. Right now it is of little concern where it might come from. I keep watching the tropics to see what might be coming down the road – so far everything is staying away from us. I’ve been through some doozies living in the Houston area, but it is preferable to what is occurring now.

    Yes, Governor Perry did the right thing by coming home. His boots were on the ground in Bastrop almost the minute he returned. He is all over the place, just like he should be.

    All of the firefighters and other responders deserves medals – they are true heroes. God bless everyone!

  • pttx333

    and neither are the morons in the MSM!

  • pttx333

    There wasn’t a single piece of paper in front of him in that weather center! Don’t you know the meterologists were laughing behind his back? Goes right along with his entry into Air Force One and the exit out – what is all of that hoppy sort of jig he does? Or the stupid pictures of him on a girl’s bike, in his Mom jeans and that helmet? Boy, what a vision of manhood he is. NOT!

  • msctex

    . . .has forced people to acknowledge the degree to which they value Perception over Reality.

    The man is a national laughingstock, but the Dems are trapped in the web of their own insane Value system and cannot escape. Obama CANNOT be wrong, because if he is, at this point the whole house of cards comes down with him.

  • pttx333

    He and his ‘wife’ have embarrassed this nation before the entire world: the garish, inappropriate outfits that Mitchell Antoinette chooses to wear; b.o. bowing and scraping to the Saudi king, et al.; dissing the Queen of England with cheap, tasteless gifts, not to mention hugging her! I dare say there is very little, if anything, that the two of them get right in any situation. It is one cringe-worthy moment after the other whenever they appear in public. So much for their view of perception! Obviously, their handlers are just as clueless.

    I cannot wait for the day when they will be swept away along with their thugs and the RINOs. You cannot build a house on sand and expect it to last very long. Perhaps they might enjoy Siberia or the Saharan Desert when they are no longer in charge – I understand both places can be quite the vacay spots with just a wee bit of imagination. They have plenty of that it would seem.

  • irishgirl

    n/t

  • cbartlett

    lived here 50 years and still can’t really figure out why Texas has Dems at all!! Perry did the right thing coming back to manage this. I’m in the East Texas Piney Woods and these fires are way too close for comfort. We’re kind of torn about the hurricanes, though. Heaven knows we need the rain, but hurricane force winds could do some really serious damage too – the trees are all very stressed from the drought and will either fall or drop heavy limbs with even minor winds. Wish we could get the water without the winds…..

  • dwanan

    Hey, our state is on fire! Gov. Perry needs to be here, not because he can put out the fires, but to show the people of Texas that he cares. We should mean more to him than a South Carolina event and by being here, he does show that he cares.

  • runner12

    We have had a few fires here in Oklahoma, but none to the extent in TX.

    Last week the smoke from one moderate-sized fire was seen from miles around. I cannot imagine what it looks like in TX.

    I hate to say it, but I was praying that the hurricane would come and dump some rain in OK and TX.

  • pttx333

    is a desperate sort of thing, of course. But there are little hurricanes, or, ideally, a nice little slow-moving tropical storm that meanders over the state might work. Have been watching the tropics al the way to Africa and things seem to be heating up out there. It seems to be our only hope as there is absolutely nothing else on the horizon.

    I’ve been in Texas 64 years with more than half of that time in the Houston area so have lived through a lot of weather also. Just hoping for drought relief with any sort of rain, but it is going to take a lot of it for an extended period of time to even make a dent in our situation. All we can do is pray.

  • mjsamuelson

    Thanks, Moe. I’ve got more up today on relief efforts and some info on the current fire situation. http://blue-dot-blues.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-ways-you-can-help-wildfire-victims.html

  • mjsamuelson

    I think the best place to get info on Magnolia is the Magnolia TX Fire and Evacuation Information page on Facebook.

  • rightwingmom52

    It’s good to see the folks in Texas helping their own like those in Nashville after their flood and those in Birmingham after their tornadoes, instead of sitting around waiting on FEMA or for Obama to show up.

    We’ll keep praying on our end.

  • joenpam2

    I had a thought that the Dems will stoop to any level to be able take shots at Perry, is it possible some of their union thugs maybe started fires to draw Perry off the campaign trail, Knowing he would go back unlike some Dems who stayed at Martha’s vineyard while a hurricane ewas pummeling our east coast ? Just a thought.