North Art Complex fire in Mason County almost fully contained

Mason County wildfire almost contained

The North Art Complex fire in Mason County is almost completely contained.

MASON COUNTY, Texas - Firefighters are battling well over a dozen wildfires across Texas, among the largest of those a blaze that continued to burn Saturday night in Mason County.

The North Art Complex fire is well on its way to being fully contained thanks to the hard work of fire crews and some help from Mother Nature.

Local and state fire crews were able to make major progress after the fire was doused by significant rain that fell across the area Friday night. That boost allowed firefighters to move into mop-up mode on Saturday.

"We have the fire backed up to a couple of different roads, which is always a positive sign," Kayla Driver with the Texas A&M Forest Service said. "So just continuing to work and pushing forward to put out the fire."

Despite the progress, the fire has already scorched more than 4,300 acres, after several fires that sparked on Thursday night merged into one early Friday.

"The fire started due to lightning strikes. And it started as multiple fire and ignition points," said Driver. "And then those fires that were in this very small, kind of tight circle grew together to one area."

Crews have been making drop after drop on the fire using aircraft, as well as tightening up containment lines on the ground.

"And so we're tying in those dozer lines from those multiple ignition points, so that we can contain it all the way around," Driver said.

As of 8:26 p.m. August 24, the North Art Complex fire is 95% contained.

The blaze in Mason County is just one of many wildfires burning across Texas, as seven new fires popped up on Friday alone.

In Bastrop County, crews were able to contain the Pine Dump fire by late Saturday. The fire started Thursday night west of Smithville. Crews spent most of Saturday doing mop-up and monitoring hot spots that could flare up again, underscoring the high fire danger, especially in areas that haven't gotten rain recently.

The fire, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service, burned about 11 acres before it was contained.