A seemingly unstoppable wildfire in Bastrop County east of Austin has destroyed over 500 homes and set a somber state record as the highest number of homes lost in a single fire in Texas history. About 5,000 people were evacuated and the exact number of lost homes is still being calculated, according to the Statesman newspaper in Austin.
The winds generated by Tropical Storm Lee, which also flooded parts of the Gulf coast, fanned the Bastrop fire, only helping it to grow more out of control.
Texas continues to sear under high temperatures and severe drought conditions. At least 130 fires have burned in the state over the past week, and 250 of the state’s 254 counties remain under a burn ban. Fire statistics, assembled by InciWeb, an incident information system, describe the magnitude of the state’s ongoing emergency:
• Acres burned in Texas in 2011: 3.5 million
• Proportion of total national fires in 2011 that have occurred in Texas: 34%
• Six of the 10 largest wildfires in Texas history occurred in 2011
• Homes and other structures lost in Texas since Nov. 15, 2010: 45,359