Homes no longer threatened as Fort Hood officials try to put out Crittenburg Complex fire
FORT HOOD, Texas - Fire crews from Hutto and Round Rock are among those working what’s called the Crittenburg Complex fire. The fire is located near Gatesville, most of the 32,000 acres of land that has burned so far is on Fort Hood.
On Monday officials warned the fight is far from over.
"This is not going to be a 48-hour fire, this fire is going to last several days if not weeks," said Mary Leathers with the Texas A&M Forest Service.
The fire was originally limited to a live ammunition training area on the south side of the installation. But what was controlled, quickly flared on Sunday.
"I can assure you this was not caused by a controlled or prescribed burn because we had none of those going on at the time with this fire started," said Col. Chad Foster.
That kind of strategy, back building small fires, later did come into play. It was an attempt to reduce the amount of dry grass feeding the flames, but it had limited success.
"We did put some fire on the ground to contain the fire and it also ran on us. With the wind driven, it drove that fire like how we like to call it, it came out like a train it was moving on us," said Chief Andrew Lima, the director of Fort Hood emergency services.
Part of the fire moved right off the Post. About 300 acres of private land has burned.
On Sunday, residents living in and near the small community of Flat were briefly evacuated. Monica Kinsey told FOX 7 her husband stayed to roundup livestock while she and her two kids got out.
"I told the kids ‘y’all go to your rooms grab some of the stuff that you really care about’ so I then went in and grabbed pictures and stuff and then called my mom to pick us up," said Kinsey.
Fire breaks held on Sunday night, saving the community of Flat. Residents returned home with no structures were lost, and no injuries reported.
But for Kinsey’s children, what they survived will be hard to forget.
"I was thinking are they going to put out the fires or are the fires spreading more," said 8-year-old Hubbard Kinsey.
Throughout the day, people like Kim and Charlie Wilson brought food and water to the First Baptist Church in Flat.
"That’s what we need to do to help people when they are in a crisis. I’ve been in a lot of things myself we just got to help people, people were there for me," said Kim Wilson.
With the threat not totally eliminated. The church will continue to be a refuge for residents and a regrouping spot for firefighters.
A fire response program was launched a few years ago to address a history of fires sported by training exercises. That effort included building more than 800 miles of fire brakes.
FOX 7 was told that effort played a big part in preventing this current fire from becoming even larger.
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MORE HEADLINES:
Fort Hood officials give update, speak on efforts to put out Crittenburg Complex fire
Strong winds, low humidity increases fire danger early this week
Texas wildfires erupt in Coryell County, prompting multiple evacuations
Officials: South Texas wildfire destroys 3 homes, none hurt
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