Fire burns hundreds of acres in Bastrop County

A brush fire burned hundreds of acres Friday at Camp Swift in Bastrop County before crossing the camp's northern boundary and approaching U.S. 290 East, officials said.

Five homes had been evacuated by 10 p.m. Friday on private land north of the camp, said Mike Fisher, the emergency coordinator for Bastrop County. No injuries had been reported as of late Friday.

Officials closed U.S. 290 East near the 1300 to 1400 block as the fire neared, Fisher said.

The fire, first reported at the Texas National Guard facility about 4:15 p.m., spread to about 900 acres in six hours, Fisher said. Firefighters and bulldozers were digging a line around the blaze to try to contain it, and a plane was dropping fire retardant, Fisher said.

The fire started at the center of the 12,000-acre camp and spread quickly in the heavily wooded area, Fisher said.

"This is very rugged territory and very woodsy," Fisher said. The cause of the fire had yet to be determined, he said.

Also Friday, a 20-acre brush fire near Braesgate Drive off Avery Ranch Boulevard in Williamson County was caused by construction welding, county spokeswoman Connie Watson said. Proper safety precautions were being followed, but severe drought conditions caused the fire to become overwhelming, she said. One firetruck was damaged, Watson said.

There were no injuries reported, and no structures were damaged, she said.

cosborn@statesman.

Grass fire burns 2 acres in Serrano | Mountain Democrat

El Dorado Hills firefighters made quick work of a 2-acre wildland fire Sunday afternoon. The fire worried residents who saw the field directly behind their home consumed by flames, but never directly threatened any homes.

Fire Marshal Jim O’Camb said that the fire appeared to start near a trail in the green belt southeast of Borders Drive and Archetto Drive in Serrano.

The combination of steel fences, tile roofs, stucco siding and landscaped back yards kept the threat to adjacent homes to a minimum.

“Wood fences burn hot and throw embers that can get into attics,” said O’Camb. “Those embers are what we worry about, but we didn’t have any of that here.”

He also credited Serrano’s homeowners association for mowing 10 feet into the green belt from the residents’ fences.

Two engines came in through back yards to fight the upper end of the fire and keep ember production down, he said. Four more El Dorado Hills engines followed, along with Cal Fire’s dozer, which cut a solid fire line, and another five Cal Fire engines, just in case.

O’Camb called the fire “a great example of the benefits of good defensible space.”

Arson investigators from Cal Fire are asking for the public’s help in tracking down two arson suspects leaving the scene of the wildland fire. Two thin white male suspects aged 13 to 14 years old, with average length brown or black hair, wearing only shorts (no shirts) and carrying skateboards were seen leaving the scene of the fire.

If you have any information regarding the suspects or the fire contact Capt. Doug Ferro at 530-647-5234.

Nice, Cal Fire responded. I guess that answers my question. Looks like all the houses In EDH will be subject to the new bill Jerry Brown just signed allowing Cal Fire to charge you all $150 a year for their service. Too bad EDH Fire Department has all those fancy new stations and super engines and now we get to pay an additional fee to Cal Fire. Seems like a double bend over. Maybe we could get a third or fourth fire agency in the area supported by our tax dollars and pay them additional fees too. Maybe throw BLM in the mix, they are in the area. Its open grass land, they should be allowed to respond.

Ok Greenwod Bill, How is that not an intelligent comment? Cal Fire has nothing to do with it? It has everything to do with Cal Fire. Maybe you can enlighten me on what Cal Fire’s jurisdiction is in El Dorado County. What Dwellings are they going to charge the $150 fee too? And why does that make me a troll? Your name calling is very juvenile. Am I supposed to know what SRA, LRA means? You have to be a government employee. Prove me wrong. I’ll put my education up against yours any day. Most likely I have more fire education and formal higher education then you do. Maybe you went to that college that all the crooked sheriff’s went to and picked up your 4 week diploma. I do know that Cal Fire is looking to charge homeowners $150 a year for dwellings they determent to be in their response area. Seems to me they responded to this fire so…. dot to dot buddy. Your are very naive if you think they are going to use response data to determine who they want to charge, and my inclination is they aren’t going to try and charge as few people as possible.

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