A forest fire has burned at least five houses and forced the evacuation of some 300 homes near a lake in North Texas amid intense heat and drought, authorities said. Many of the residents They returned home on Tuesday, but the area remains under a voluntary evacuation notice. the Texas A&M Forest Service said.
The fire around Possum Kingdom Lake, about 70 miles west of Fort Worth, which started Monday afternoon, had consumed about 202 hectares and was contained by 10% this TuesdayForest Service spokesman Adam Turner said. Firefighters are working around the clock, concentrating on protecting threatened homes in tourist complexes on the western shore of the lake, the forest service said.
In the meantime, The largest active wildfire in Texas is burning Chalk Mountain, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth.
According to state forest service spokeswoman Mary Leathers, there are at least eight structures destroyed by the flamess, but it is unknown how many of them were residences or businesses. The fire, which began Monday afternoon, was only 10% contained after burning some 1,600 hectares as of midday Tuesday, with crews using bulldozers to dig containment lines as fire trucks and aircraft worked. to extinguish the flames, the forest service said.
No injuries have been reported from the fires, and their causes are being investigated.
A combination of unusually high temperatures approaching 43 degrees Celsius, gusts of up to 50 kilometers per hour and drought conditions have left the region prone to fires, according to the forest service.