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STATE NEWS

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Wildfires burning across Texas, 1 injured

08:32 AM CDT on Friday, May 2, 2008

Associated Press

FORT STOCKTON, Texas -- At least seven wildfires, two of them consuming more than 20,000 acres each, burned across Texas on Thursday, threatening homes, a wind farm and a $10 million vineyard, officials said.

There have been no deaths reported and just one injury, a heavy equipment operator who was treated for smoke inhalation.

One of the largest fires was the Huckabee Fire in Pecos County, about 30 miles southeast of Fort Stockton in West Texas. The 21,000 acre blaze was threatening two natural gas facilities that produce more than $1 million of natural gas a day. Both facilities appear out of danger, said Jeanne Eastham, a spokeswoman for the Texas Forest Service.

The Huckabee Fire was also threatening a $280 million wind farm that employs about 250 people and an 800-acre vineyard, Eastham said. The wind farm issued a voluntary evacuation. The forest service had a mandatory evacuation for one ranch in the fire’s path.

Pecos County resident Weldon Blackwelder said he was keeping watch on the fire to see if it gets close to his home.

“It’s amazing how this old country will burn like that,” Blackwelder said in a story for Friday’s Odessa American.

A separate Pecos County fire destroyed one outbuilding and threatened three homes. It was burning across 200 acres and was 40 percent contained, according to the Texas Forest Service.

The 2,000-acre Price Fire in Midland County has burned five structures, threatened 200 more and forced the evacuation of 150 homes, officials said.

A 150-acre Brooks County fire that burned one outbuilding was about 40 percent contained but “extreme weather conditions and lack of air resources are limiting the ability of ground crews to gain control,” Eastham said.

A train started a 320-acre fire around 12:45 p.m. Thursday in Howard County. Officials said the fire burned rapidly along Interstate 20 but was under control and about 80 percent contained.  There was a 200-acre fire in Crockett County that was mostly contained and caused minimal damage.

The state’s other large fire is a 23,000-acre blaze in Brewster County dubbed the Cathedral Fire. This lightning fire is in an inaccessible area but is not threatening any structures and considered mostly contained. “Crews are making good progress,” Eastham said.

  

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