Big Sky Fire: Officials work to contain wildfire north of Fredericksburg
FREDERICKSBURG, Texas - Fire crews continue to work to contain the Big Sky Fire in Gillespie County.
On Wednesday afternoon, helicopters dropped water on hot spots.
"There are hot spots, they're mostly into the black, which is the burned area, but there have been some on the edges closer to the unburned area. We've been working on cleaning those up all day," Justin Calhoun, emergency management coordinator with the City of Fredericksburg said.
The Big Sky Fire has burned 1,459 acres and is about 80 percent contained as of 1:30 p.m. on Friday, August 5. According to officials, the cause of the fire has been determined as a mechanical malfunction on a piece of equipment that sparked the fire
"It's looking a lot better today. We've had crews on the ground, about a 100 personnel on the ground, and we've had some air support throughout the day, and we've been improving the containment lines from last night into today," Calhoun said.
There were evacuations Tuesday but none Wednesday.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Big Sky Fire: Large wildfire north of Fredericksburg
- Smoke Rider Fire: Blanco County fire's forward progression stopped, 60% contained
Wednesday, there were no structures under threat, but Tuesday, there were about a dozen homes threatened, one home damaged, and three barn type structures destroyed.
In Blanco County near Hays County, the Smoke Rider fire burned 800 acres and is 60 percent contained. Three houses and one mobile home were destroyed.
The threat of wildfires is still high across the state.
"The risk is high, the winds are up, the relative humidity is down, it's hot outside, we're in drought conditions, it hasn't rained in quite some time, so the fire danger's very high. We just ask everyone to be careful when they are outdoors working or doing recreational activities to make sure they're trying to prevent fires as best they can," Calhoun said.
Because of the Big Sky Fire, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area was closed Wednesday.