FIRES IN WEST TEXAS BRING HAZE, SMOKY SMELL TO WASHINGTON CO. AREA
(courtesy Texas A&M Forest Service)
Residents in Washington and surrounding counties may have noticed a smoky smell and a haze in the air upon waking up this (Friday) morning.
According to Ronnie Perry of the Washington County Firefighters Association, that is the result of fires that occurred on Thursday and are ongoing in West and Central Texas. An overnight cold front pushed smoke from the fires into the area.
Perry said the fires have been very destructive and have resisted control efforts of firefighters in those regions.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said an estimated 45,383 acres have burned in the Eastland Complex Fire in Eastland County. The fire is 4 percent contained as of 10 a.m. today.
Several other fires have been reported in Coleman, Maverick, Randall, Reagan, Runnels and Sterling counties, many of them thousands of acres in size. According to the Forest Service, the fires are at least 75 percent contained as of this morning.
Evacuations have been ordered in several parts of the state due to the fires.
Readings from the Environmental Protection Agency’s fire and smoke map showed air quality at moderate at monitoring stations in Hempstead, College Station and New Ulm.
Winds are expected to blow out of the northwest throughout the day.