County official: Wildfire in Huckabay is out while the Big L fire near Bluff Dale continues to burn.
Erath County residents are waking up Monday with a sense of relief and dread.
There’s relief that a wildfire that started in the Huckabay area on Sunday is out, and mercifully, spared area homes.
But a second wildfire near Bluff Dale, known as the Big L fire, is only about 15 percent contained.
“The Huckabay fire is out; fire crews were up late last night checking for hotspots,” Erath County Judge Alfonso Campos told Beneath the Surface News. “We had an outpouring of help (from other departments) and the fire was fought very strategically.”
Campos surveyed the damage to Huckabay on Monday morning and said the fact that fire crews got control of the blaze in about three hours likely saved homes and structures.
He said it’s still not been determined how the fire started.
“A landowner saw smoke and initially confused it for dust,” he said.
Meanwhile, fire crews are still battling the Big L fire in Bluff Dale.
“Homes and structures have been lost but we don’t have a number on that yet,” Campos said. “Unofficially I have heard that 25,000 acres have burned.”
How the fire started has also not been determined.
The Bluff Dale Community Center is providing food and water to displaced residents.
Stay connected to beneaththesurfacenews.com for more updates on this continuing story.
