San Gabriel Fire: Acreage scorched following massive Liberty Hill wildfire
LIBERTY HILL, Texas - Hundreds of acres in Williamson County are scorched, after a massive wildfire started Saturday evening.
Dozens of agencies have responded to the blaze.
"Our neighborhood, I described it as apocalyptic, you couldn't see the sky and the sun was covered by ashes and we had debris and ashes in and around our area so we turned our sprinklers on," Liberty Hill resident Chelcy Carson said.
Saturday afternoon, Carson said she received a text and phone call to evacuate her home. "Well, we're just going to take a moment, collect the baby pictures and pack an overnight bag," she said.
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Neighbors started working together to try to keep everyone safe.
"All my neighbors, we help each other out any time it's needed and you saw it in full action yesterday, people cruising down, coming from other areas to collect and move areas, turn on water if it was needed," Carson said.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen crews worked to contain the 500 acre fire, known as the San Gabriel Fire in Liberty Hill.
"The river has basically split this fire right in half so we're working two different areas of it right now," Liberty Hill Fire Department Fire Marshal Michael Dickens said.
Dickens said each side is about 250 acres.
"The alpha side is more dense and more compact of cedar and scrub brush and stuff like that so we're having a hard time getting trucks in there, getting crews in there to fight the fire so we're relying on the retardant drops and the water drops," Dickens said.
He said air tankers were filling up at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to drop retardant and helicopters and planes were filling up in Lake Georgetown to drop water. To allow fire suppression units to continue working, Lake Georgetown and the trail system is closed.
On the bravo side, dozer crews were running.
"We've got crews rolling through here, checking to make sure there's no flair ups or anything like that," Dickens said.
Carson said she’s thankful for their work. "Their control to the chaos is very much appreciated," Carson said.
So far, there have been no reported deaths or damage to structures. The cause of the fire hasn’t been released, but Dickens said with these dry conditions, a small spark can turn into something big quickly.
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell released a statement Sunday evening about the fire, saying:
"The San Gabriel wildfire that started in Liberty Hill on Saturday, July 23, has burned 500 acres and is now 50 percent contained. Thus far, there have been 12 DC-10 loads of retardant and 50 loads of water dumped in the area. I know that it’s been a great inconvenience for Lake Georgetown to be closed, but this is about protecting lives and property, and we appreciate everyone’s patience while crews work diligently to put out this fire. Crews will work overnight, as well as tomorrow as needed. I would like to thank all of the agencies involved and the residents of Williamson County for doing their part to evacuate, checking on their neighbors, or by staying away from the area."