Over the past two days, fire crews in Gillespie County and out of the county have been working to contain a 1,400-plus acre wildfire that started near Eckert Road.
Fredericksburg Fire EMS Chief Lynn Bizzell said the call came in around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday.
“There have been so many units that have responded,” Bizzell said. “We’ve had all of the volunteer fire departments in the county, as well as some from surrounding counties. And we’ve also had a lot of state assets from the Texas A&M Forest Service and assets from out of state.”
A news release from the City of Fredericksburg stated that about 100 personnel from the Texas A&M Forest Service were working the area.
A STRAC (Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council) team from Bexar County also stepped in for assistance.
The news release stated that resources also were received from Llano, Kendall, Kerr, Mason and McCollough counties.
As of 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Bizzell said the fire was about 50% contained.
“The wind has been our biggest enemy, but we’re trying to get containment lines set up,” he said.
Extensive damage has been reported, as several outbuildings and barns have been destroyed, but Bizzell no homes have been considered total losses at this point.
“One house did catch on fire, we were able to stop it in the attic, so it wasn’t what I would consider to be destroyed,” he said.
As far as the cause, Bizzell said it has not been determined at this time. No injuries have been reported as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We had one man get overheated and was treated on scene and one was transported to the hospital, but both of them are back to work today,” he said.
Insight from the fire
Peggy Metzger, a resident who lives close to the fire, said it was recommended for everyone in the area to evacuate. She was the last to leave.
“At one point, we saw it rising above a hill, and we thought, ‘if it jumps that hill, we’ll be in trouble,’” she recalled.
It eventually did jump the hill, but didn’t spread as badly as they thought.
Overnight, she said the barn at her property had been used as a command center for the firefighters, and water from their property had been used to help contain the fire.
Gordon and Dianne Eckert, who live on Lower Crabapple Road, were very close to having to be evacuated.
“I was on the way home from town and, at about 12:30, I could see the fire on top of the hill and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s not good,’” Gordon said. “We weren’t very concerned at first because of the prevailing southwest wind, we thought it was going to push off to the east of us, but it just got so hot.”
With the immense amount of cedar in the area, Gordon said the fire was “growing against the wind.”
“A friend of ours came over and said, ‘Y’all need to pack up some stuff that you don’t want to lose,’” he recalled.
He and Dianne packed up tubs worth of belongings, but inevitable were able to stay put.
But even with that bit of good news, it was still a concern.
“It got up close to our hay and if we had lost that, we would’ve been out of business,” said Dianne. “That’s what we feed to our cattle.”
They did not lose any hay and, while there were some close calls, no livestock was lost as well.
“We thought we lost one calf, because the momma kept coming out and looking for her baby,” Dianne said.
The Eckerts wanted to offer their sincere gratitude to the first responders who worked the fire.
“If it had not been for them, our home would’ve been just a stack of ashes,” Dianne said.
Community help
Other community members have been bringing food, water, Gatorade and other supplies to the firefighters working.
“I will tell you that when you’re sitting on a brush truck for a long time and you have no resources, seeing that food and water is amazing,” he said. “They’re our heroes.”
If people would like to donate supplies, Bizzell suggest they call the Fredericksburg Fire EMS Department at 830-990-2050.
Livestock evacuations
Due to the severity of the fire, livestock has also been evacuated.
The Gillespie County Fair Grounds at 530 Fair Drive have been housing evacuated horses. To check horse stall availability, call 830-997-2359.
The John L. Kuykendall Event Center and Arena, located at 2200 W. Ranch Road 152 in Llano, has also been accepting livestock. For more information, call 325-248-5937.