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BASTROP—Disaster Relief volunteers with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention continued serving emergency workers and displaced residents as massive wildfires raged on in Bastrop County, east of Austin, and in Montgomery County, north of Houston.
As of Sept. 8, the wildfires, some jumping creeks and ravines and driven by changing winds, had scorched more than 35,000 acres and nearly 1,400 homes in Bastrop County alone, displacing 5,000 residents, the Texas Forest Service reported. Some of those evacuees have been able to return home, state officials said. That fire was about 30 percent contained.
State officials said the Bastrop County wildfire is the worst on record. Earlier in the week, the charred bodies of two people were found—the only fatalities reported so far there. Meanwhile, in Montgomery County, state officials said 11,000 acres and 75 homes have burned.
About 40 SBTC Disaster Relief volunteers were serving meals and providing showers, at First Baptist Church of Bastrop and at First Baptist Church of Magnolia, said Jim Richardson, the SBTC’s DR director.
“It’s going to be at least a week or more before we can do any clean up work,” Richardson told the Southern Baptist TEXAN. The SBTC also fields DR teams for clean up and recovery work during disasters, as well as chaplaincy.
With low temperatures forecasted around 60 degrees, fire officials were hoping to step up their efforts. But there was concern that if winds picked up, the fires could gain momentum again. Statewide during the first week of September, state officials reported that 1,626 homes had burned in 176 separate fires engulfing a combined 126,000 acres.
Earlier in the week, Richardson urged prayer for the fire victims, the firefighters and the nearby churches. “The churches have the opportunity to share the hope of Jesus during this crisis time. Also, pray for more people to get trained in disaster relief,” Richardson said.
Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry broke from his presidential campaigning on Sept. 6 to tour some of the burned areas by helicopter.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the first responders who are working around the clock o keep Texans out of harm’s way, and with the families across our state who are threatened by these wildfires,” Perry said.
President Obama telephoned Perry on Sept. 7, offering condolences for lives lost and promising federal assistance.
It was one of the hottest, driest Texas summers on record. Of 254 Texas counties, 250 remained under burn bans, the Texas Forest Service reported.
