Thursday, October 22, 2015

Incident size: 4582 acres               Current Situation:  80% contained         Number of personnel: 263

 

The Hidden Pines Fire is being managed by the Southern Area Blue Team and continued to hold acreage steady with 4582 acres.  Patrol and Mop-up operations, particularly near structures, are the major operations today.   This involves cooling, digging, sawing/chopping the fuels, and using water from hose lays and engines to completely extinguish these hotspots.  Snags continue to be a concern as they fall, posing threats to the constructed lines and to the firefighters themselves.  Assessments of hazard trees will continue.  Airtankers are on standby, but have not been used for several days.  

 

Weather Conditions today:   Cloudy, with a 30% chance of showers and storms.  Temperatures will range 81-83 degrees, Minimum Relative Humidity ranging 64-68% and winds SE 12-16 mph, gusty in the afternoon.  The chance of wetting rain is 80% (where rainfall is over 0.1”).

 

The Texas A&M Forest Service has not yet announced its final conclusion of the cause of the fire and continues to be under investigation.

 

Assigned Resources include:
2 Type 2 Initial Attack Handcrews
5 Type 3 Engines
1 Type 4 Engine
19 Type 6 Engines
2 Dozers
4 Water Tenders
1 Air Attack
2 Single Engine Airtankers

 

Wednesday, October 21, 2015 

 

Incident size: 4582 acres               Current Situation:  80% contained         Number of personnel: 284

 

The Hidden Pines Fire is being managed by the Southern Area Blue Team and continued to hold acreage steady with 4582 acres.  Large heavy fuels continue to burn in the interior of the fire, with some stumps being completely burned into the ground.   Patrol and Mop-up operations, particularly near structures, are the major operations today. 
This involves cooling, digging, sawing/chopping the fuels, and using water from hose lays and engines to completely extinguish these hotspots.  Snags continue to be a concern as they fall, posing threats to the constructed lines and to the firefighters themselves.  Assessments of hazard trees will continue.  Airtankers are on standby, but have not been used for several days.

 

Weather Conditions today:   Cloudy, with a 30% chance of showers and storms.  Temperatures will range 83- 85 degrees, Minimum Relative Humidity ranging 52-57% and winds SE 11-15 mph, gusty in the afternoon.  The chance of wetting rain is 30% (where rainfall is over 0.1”).

 

The Texas A&M Forest Service has not yet announced its final conclusion of the cause of the fire and continues to be under investigation.

 

Assigned Resources include:
2 Type 2 Initial Attack Handcrews
2 Type 1 Engines
5 Type 3 Engines
2 Type 4 Engines
19 Type 6 Engines
7 Dozers
4 Water Tenders
4 Single Engine Airtankers

 

Incident size: 4582 acres               Current Situation:  80% contained         Number of personnel: 325

 

The Hidden Pines Fire is being managed by the Southern Area Blue Team and continued to hold acreage steady with 4582 acres.  Large heavy fuels continue to burn in the interior of the fire, with some stumps being completely burned into the ground.   Mop-up operations, particularly near structures, are the major operations today.   This involves cooling, digging, sawing/chopping the fuels, and using water from hose lays and engines to completely extinguish these hotspots.  Snags continue to be a concern as they fall, posing threats to the constructed lines and to the firefighters themselves.  Helicopters continue to support mop-up operations.  Air tankers are on standby, but have not been used for several days.

 

Weather Conditions today: temperatures up to 87 degrees, Minimum Relative Humidity ranging 39-42% and winds SE 8-12 mph.

 

Assigned Resources include:  

 

2 Type 2 Initial Attack Handcrews
2 Type 2 Helicopters
2 Type 3 Helicopters
2 Type 1 Engines
1 Type 4 Engines
15 Type 6 Engines
7 Dozers
3 Water Tenders
4 Single Engine Airtankers

 

 

Incident size: 4582 acres               Current Situation:  60% contained         Number of personnel: 339

 

The Hidden Pines Fire is being managed by the Southern Area Blue Team and continued to hold acreage steady with 4582 acres.  Minor spots over the fire lines were immediately contained and cooled with hose lays and bucket drops with Blackhawk helicopters.  Large heavy fuels continue to burn in the interior of the fire, with some stumps being completely burned into the ground.   Snags continue to be a concern as they fall, posing threats to the constructed lines and to the firefighters themselves.  Firefighters are continuing to go with direct lines when fire intensity allows.  Crews are mopping-up along the perimeter, cooling heat sources with hose lays.

 

Weather Conditions today: temperatures up to 85 degrees, Minimum Relative Humidity ranging 19-21% and winds SE 6-10 mph.

 

Assigned Resources include:   2 Type 3 Helicopters
1 Type 4 Engines
7 Type 6 Engines
4 TIFMAS Structural Engine Strike Teams
10 Dozers
2 Type 2 Initial Attack Handcrews
3 Water Tenders
1 Air Attack
4 Single Engine Airtankers

 

 

Incident size: 4582 acres               Current Situation: 60% contained  (updated at noon)           Number of personnel: 271

 

The Hidden Pines Fire is being managed by the Blue Team and continued to hold acreage steady with 4582 acres.  Minor spots over the fire lines were immediately contained and cooled with hose lays and bucket drops with Chinook helicopters.  Large heavy fuels continue to burn in the interior of the fire, with some stumps being completely burned into the ground.   Snags continue to be a concern as they fall, posing threats to the constructed lines and to the firefighters themselves.  Firefighters are continuing to go with direct lines when fire intensity allows. 

 

Weather Conditions today: temperatures up to 85 degrees, Minimum Relative Humidity down to as low as 14% and winds ESE 6-10 mph.

 

Assigned Resources include:    2 Type 1 Helicopters
2 Type 2 Helicopters
20 Type 3 Engines
18 Type 6 Engines
2 Type 2IA Handcrews
1 Water Tender
4 Single Engine Airtankers

Find out more about the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) program at https://ticc.tamu.edu/Response/TIFMAS.htm
 
Also, you can read a great story from the Texas A&M Forest Service about the TIFMAS fire departments who reported to the Hidden Pines Fire at https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/content/article.aspx?id=22660

Incident size: 4582 acres Current Situation:  40% contained         Number of personnel: 203

The Hidden Pines Fire is now being managed by the Southern Area Incident Management Blue Team (Type 1) starting at 8:00 a.m. today.  Fire personnel made excellent progress on fire lines with line construction using dozers and handcrews.  Engine support provided holding of the fire perimeter.   Weather conditions were still very dry, with winds and high temperatures still keeping fire personnel working hard to fire from spreading.

 

Today’s operations will focus on completing line construction and holding.

 

Incident size: 4383 acres Current Situation:  25% contained
The Hidden Pines Fire incident command is receiving assistance from the Capital Area Incident Management Team (IMT) and the Alamo area IMT. Firefighting crews are coming in from across the state to assist local crews who have been responding since the start of the fire. A DC-10 aircraft made a flight over the fire and made stage drops of retardant this afternoon along the southern edge of the fireline to help firefighters create a fire break on that edge of the perimeter.

 

Crews focused on structure protection and line control, with an emphasis on the southern edge, in expectation of a wind shift from the north in the afternoon.

 

Incident size: 4383 acres Current Situation: 15 % contained
The following addresses were reopened:
125-441 Kellar Road
132-333 Powell Road
Residents will be required to show proof of address at the security check points.
County released addresses of potential losses in an evening meeting at the evacuation center.
Incident Command Post moved from Buescher State Park to 125 Keller Rd.

Governor Abbott's Press Conference notes:
Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency in Bastrop County due to the wildfire continuing to spread in the area.  By declaring a state of disaster, the State of Texas is activating resources to help affected communities as efficiently and effectively as possible
The State has applied for and received Federal help in the form of an FMAG, Fire Management Assistant Grant. Bastrop County had one for the 2011 fires and this will help all involved recoup 75% of the funds expended in Fire Suppression.
There is now a total of 4 Black Hawk Helicopter's handling water drops. Currently the incident is in a Uniform Command System comprised of local and state agencies. A Type 1 Incident Management Team (IMT) comprised of individuals from across the Southern State will arrive to help.

 

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Incident size: 1512 acres Current Situation: 50 % contained at 1:40 p.m.
Hidden Pines Fire had its first residential evacuations overnight and continued throughout the day due to the intense fire behavior. Firefighters with bulldozers and fire trucks on the ground were assisted by Black Hawks from the Texas National Guard and Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATS) through Texas A&M Forest Service.

 

Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Incident size: 200 acres Current Situation:  10% contained 6:00 p.m.

 

The Hidden Pines fire started midday on Tuesday on private property approximately 3 miles north of Smithville. Local volunteer fire departments were on scene with support from Texas A&M Forest Service shortly after it was called in to local dispatchers. Firefighters with bulldozers and fire trucks on the ground were assisted by STAR Flight helicopters, which made water drops in the fire perimeter. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Buescher State Park and MD Anderson Cancer Research Center voluntarily evacuated in the afternoon.