# East Texas fires



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

There are fires all over east Texas. Last night they were evacuating an area less than a mile from our house. We could see & smell the smoke. We just got back from surveying this morning & the fires are still not out. Looks like they've got it stopped from coming our way for now though. Ya'll please pray. It has been horribly dry here & the winds are not helping.  No rain expected in the near future. 

There are several members here from east Texas, could ya'll please let us know how you are? 

We are packed & ready to bug out at any time. Soooo glad we are prepared!!! We are not looking forward to losing our house & shop, nor their contents, but it sure is nice knowing we have everything we need to live & restart our lives. It's very reassuring knowing no matter what, we have a roof over our heads, food & water, clothing & shoes, vital documents, pet necessities, momentoes, etc. & we don't have to depend on anyone else for those things. We owe that to all of you on this board who took the time to post your thoughts on preparedness & bugging out. Thank ya'll from the bottom of our hearts. We love ya'll! :kiss:


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## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

First and foremost, our thoughts and prayer are going out to you.

Secondly, glad to know you are prepared.

Be safe and keep us posted.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Stay safe. You're right, there are several members on here who live in east Texas. I hope they check in. Good thing you're ready to bug out. We've been there, done that, with wild fires here in the forest of NW Montana. It was really bad 8 years ago. They really are a big deal.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

We have family in Houston,so we are also praying all are safe .
Here in Florida we are use to wildfires,but they are still frieghtening. 
Glad your prepared.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

HozayBuck lives near Tyler. I hope they're all okay.


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

Im ok. We had a fire just north east of us. Its been put out. We have been lucky that all of the fires have been put out..... so far


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

Hoping for rain for yall.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

As of yesterday, there were 64 active fires in Texas. When I came out of the station on Saturday morning you could smell the smoke in the air.

We have preps in place in case we need to evacuate. My place is surrounded by acres and acres of woods and fields. Fire moves fast. People do NOT realize how fast.

Watch how fast fire can move

Anyone in Texas who is displaced is welcome to come to my place as long as we don't get evacuated. I have an RV hookup, plenty of airmattresses, and plenty of room for livestock. I also have a fenced area for dogs.


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

kejmack said:


> As of yesterday, there were 64 active fires in Texas. When I came out of the station on Saturday morning you could smell the smoke in the air.
> 
> We have preps in place in case we need to evacuate. My place is surrounded by acres and acres of woods and fields. Fire moves fast. People do NOT realize how fast.
> 
> ...


May the Lord bless you and yours, it's folks like you that leaves no doubt in my mind that the folks on this forum are the best of the best this Nation has to 0ffer.

That offer of aid is one of the most generous and unselfish things that I have seen in a long time.

I hope and pray that the fire passes you by and that no harm or damage comes to you and your family.


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## jungatheart (Feb 2, 2010)

Went through the same thing this spring in West Texas so I know what kind of hell you're living in. My house was unscathed and I hope yours is too. 

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any Fed Govt. help.


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## Graebarde (Aug 30, 2011)

Know where your coming from. Bastrop fire is what caught the news, but the Magnolia fire is as bad, just not as many acres... yet. I live in Riverside. Yesterday morning the smoke here was so thick things were just a haze at a quarter-mile and nose and eyes burned, yet the nearest fire on the wind was nearly thirty miles away.. I still think we had a local burn I didn't hear about.

But this has really gotten me to thinking about site selections etc. Wildfire is often overlooked as something to deal with. What are some of the things ppl do to prepare for this? Myself is to not put all my eggs in one basket.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Where my house is it, is pretty safe. 
Lots of smoke in the air, with a strange oily/tar smell to it. 

Fires within 10 miles of our house.... but I have 6 acres of mostly cedar trees (that do burn HOT!!!) 20 miles from us, and a friend that lives near there says they are hauling water with cement trucks to the area to help with a fire nearby. I don't have much in the way of buildings on that 6 acres (small barn, outhouse, tool shed, no house yet) but I would sure hate to lose it. I have a tractor, tools, generator, fuel, and lumber stored out there.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

LincTex said:


> Where my house is it, is pretty safe.
> Lots of smoke in the air, with a strange oily/tar smell to it.
> 
> Fires within 10 miles of our house.... but I have 6 acres of mostly cedar trees (that do burn HOT!!!) 20 miles from us, and a friend that lives near there says they are hauling water with cement trucks to the area to help with a fire nearby. I don't have much in the way of buildings on that 6 acres (small barn, outhouse, tool shed, no house yet) but I would sure hate to lose it. I have a tractor, tools, generator, fuel, and lumber stored out there.


 Be safe and I just said a prayer for you.You have really helped me a lot with solar questions.


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## Ponce (May 3, 2009)

Did any of you happen to see the article where FEMA went in and stopped the firefighters? according to them the volunteers should not be there because "officially" no one asked for their help....at "What Really Happened".

Paul.

FEMA Forces Texas Firefighters To Stand Down 
Submitted by zooamerica on Tue, 09/06/2011 - 21:38
in Daily Paul Liberty Forum
FEMA 
6
votes More political ammo for Ron Paul tomorrow night.

http://www.infowars.com/fema-forces-firefighters-to-stand-do...

In an outrageous repeat of Katrina, the federal government has moved into wildfire-stricken Texas and turned away firefighting trained volunteers who had converged on Bastrop and Smithville to combat the out of control flames.

According to The Gonzales Cannon, federal officials arrived at the scene and assumed command of the operation under the pretense "local officials never made a formal request for volunteers."

Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson with the U.S. National Interagency Incident Center, confirmed that a federal group comprised of several agencies would be assuming command in Bastrop County......

Alex Jones was contacted on Tuesday by firefighters who confirmed that FEMA is blocking volunteer assistance and has frustrated local attempts through the U.S. Forest Service and its maze of bureaucratic red tape. The firefighters and other volunteers report that the Forest Service is not responding to their efforts to clear federal hurdles put in the way of a response to the worst fire in Texas history.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

in many areas fema does not want help whose training is unknown to them. they want to know that the volunteers are properly trained to fight wild land fires. this is for the safety of ALL firefighters. I work with a volunteer dept. and we are trained and have worked with the forestry dept to put out major fires. there are special considerations to take when a wild land fire occurs. thieir movement can be unpredictable and sudden changes in the wind. or a sudden fire storm can turn the fire onto the people fighting it making them take action to keep themselves alive. it is much easier to fight a house fire than a fire in a field. believe me, I have been there and had to take off running when the fire tried to attack ME :surrender:


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Fire in Needville last night. They have it mostly contained. Lots of smoke in the air this morning. My son and I have cleared a 2 acre area around my house down to dirt. We removed anything combustible including the mulch around the flowerbeds and all the trees except the oaks. As long as we are not caught in a fire storm, we should be okay. I had a professional fire fighter friend come over and he said we had done all we could. The only thing I wish I had was a pond.


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

kejmack said:


> Fire in Needville last night. They have it mostly contained. Lots of smoke in the air this morning. My son and I have cleared a 2 acre area around my house down to dirt. We removed anything combustible including the mulch around the flowerbeds and all the trees except the oaks. As long as we are not caught in a fire storm, we should be okay. I had a professional fire fighter friend come over and he said we had done all we could. The only thing I wish I had was a pond.


My thoughts and prayers are with you as well as anyone else in harms way with all of the fires here in Texas, it seems as though no place in our state is safe from fire.

It sounds like you have done everything you can do to protect your home, and I will continue to pray for you all. :crossfinger:


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

The sky is a steady haze all over the state now.

I'm central Texas with family in the hill country and they it's bad their too. Not to mention everyone with allergies is having problems right now.


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## Graebarde (Aug 30, 2011)

Wildfires, either in field or forest, more so in forest I think, are killers if you don't know what your doing, and even in that case. They have a 'mind of their own' and if the wind kicks up/gusts, you can find the fire BEHIND you.. training is necessary. I think the article Ponce posted stems from the burecratic frustration of TRAINED volunteers that showed up and were told in so many words 'we don't need your help'.. not by FEMA or USFS, but the TEXAS STATE FORESTRY and Bastrop according to todays report in the _Cannon._

They would rather PAY people to fight the fire than have unpaid volunteers it seems, though that is the outside looking in. A lot of mixed reports there.

This morning the local paper here _Item_ reported hearing scanner calls to fighters in the Montgomery fire to "drop your lines and get the hell out of there!!" which is NOT a good thing to hear.. that's where the training comes in, to follow the orders given by the fire boss, when the urge is to keep battling the beast.

All I can say is that I pray for those guys (and gals) on the line, and the people in the path of the beast that is still not close to being contained.

FB


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## Graebarde (Aug 30, 2011)

Not much change in the fires in this neck of the woods. The Montgomery complex has expanded and more evacuations are taking place. We're well away from that fire, but this morning the smoke is pretty heavy around here.. porbably from Leon County or Crockett. We smell like were using wood stoves at home.. but better than trash fires for smell I guess. FB


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Our place is safe for now. We're in between Tyler & Longview out in the country so if anyone needs a place to crash or store stuff, you're welcome at our home. 

We're currently at Lake O' the Pines, out close to Jefferson, near the Cass County fire, for the week (a working vacation of sorts). It's smoky here & lots of evacuees here. 

I don't know what's going on in other parts, but here in East Texas everyone is fighting the fires. Oil companies are using their water trucks to haul water to firefighters, average joes with tractors & dirt moving equipment are helping make unburnable boundaries to help contain the fires. Folks with tree cutting equipment are cutting down trees & brush to keep them off of the electrical lines. Farmers are coming from all over with their animal trailers to move livestock to safety. Businesses from all the surrounding areas are gathering supplies from their citizens & bringing them to the areas they are needed. There are long lists of people willing to house pets for the people in the shelters & some shelters are even allowing pets. Even the McDonald's here is getting food, supplies & workers shipped in from other McDonald's in the area so they can handle the huge increase in customers. 

Few here think the federal govt gives a sh!t about us & no one is waiting on FEMA to save them. We're sure Obama is sending them via covered wagon from the uppermost tip of New York.  We are fully aware the Obama administration would love to light their cigars with the fires burning here. :ignore: 

East Texas gets a lot of experience handling emergency situations when the evacuees come here during hurricanes. We meet lots of friends from other states during those times & many of them are here from Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, & Missouri helping us out in our time of need. Of course there's a huge influx of folks here to help from our brother state of Oklahoma. Mighty good to see all these guys. :usaflag: People all over the country are praying for us & sending help. We are in awesome hands & don't need anything from the federal govt.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

tsrwivey said:


> Few here think the federal govt gives a sh!t about us & no one is waiting on FEMA to save them. We are in awesome hands & don't need anything from the federal govt.


I have no doubt that y'all in Texas will show the feds (and everyone else) exactly how things get done.

So glad you posted - been wondering how you're fairing. Keep safe everyone!


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

All in Texas...you are in my prayers..you are in my church's prayers.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

New fire on the east side of Houston tonight. It is at Beltway 8 and Woodforest Dr.


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

Praying that ya'll get rain, and lots of it - to put the fires out and get things growing again.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

kejmack said:


> New fire on the east side of Houston tonight. It is at Beltway 8 and Woodforest Dr.


If ya'll need to go just head on up this way I45 to I20. We'd be happy to have ya'll here! We'll keep you in our prayers! If you need anything, don't hesitate to let us know!


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

I am off 28 west out of Leesville. If you head this way I have a place you can park trailers or bug out vehicles.


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