Texas’ Mesquite Heat Fire: Photos capture devastation as blaze grows to 5,000 acres

There is potential for large wildfires to occur in the Western/Eastern Hill Country and Rolling Plains through Friday including areas near Childress, Vernon, Abilene, Brownwood, Lampasas, San Angelo, Ozona and Fredericksburg. Any new fires in grass and brush vegetation will likely be resistant to control, as underlying drought and critically to extremely dry vegetation combine with 100-degree temperatures and periods of elevated to critical fire weather. Yesterday, Texas A&M Forest Service fire resources responded to four wildfires that burned 10,610 acres across the state. Crews also continued work on carryover fires and responded to two fires that rekindled and moved across containment lines. Several wildfires exhibited extreme fire behavior caused by dry live and dead vegetation, increased wind speeds and triple digit temperatures. Fire crews experienced high resistance to control with active crown fire in juniper and mesquite vegetation, where the fire transitions from the surface to the canopy. Read more: https://bit.ly/39uXCyI. For more information and resources, visit https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/CurrentSituation/. 🎥 Extreme fire behavior observed on the Mesquite Heat Fire in Taylor County on May 17, 2022. Video courtesy of B. Henry/TAMFS.

Posted by Lone Star State Incident Management Team - Texas A&M Forest Service on Wednesday, May 18, 2022