Brush fire in East Austin burns 55 acres; injures 2 firefighters: AFD

AUSTIN, Texas - A large brush fire in East Austin has been extinguished and has left two firefighters injured, the Austin Fire Department said.

According to AFD, at 12:41 p.m., there was a call for service about a fire in the 9500 block of FM 969 Road. It was reported the Atlantis fire was at a quarter of an acre and spreading rapidly.

"We do have a large wind where the fire is happening. The fire is burning in grass and brush, which burns quickly and fast with additional heat as well as smoke being moved around by the wind," says Austin Fire Department spokesperson Rachel Lewis.

Large clouds of smoke could be seen as crews worked to contain the fire.

Firefighters say the winds continued to change the direction of the fire.

"We have everything from regular firefighting engines, we have brush trucks, we have squads, which are like a smaller brush truck with our water tank capability, as well as multiple people riding on it to be able to use multiple hand tools. We have over 47 firefighters on the ground with boots using hand tools to be able to fight this fire," says Lewis.

First responders said the Atlantis fire spread nearly 55 acres, injuring two firefighters and threatening several businesses before the winds shifted the direction of the flames.

One business and the Austin Discovery School nearby were voluntarily evacuated.

"This school was a threatened structure. This school is on a hill. When fire tracks up a hill it moves, it speeds up, and it speeds up its burning capabilities. This was a threatened structure at one point. Now that the wind has shifted, there is a jail off to my left that was threatened at one point and there is a neighbor in the area the fire had also moved toward at one point in time," said Lewis.

AFD said there were no forced evacuations or structures that were damaged.

There were also more than 100 firefighters working on the Atlantis fire.

AFD says the cause of the fire was an equipment malfunction.