Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved

  • Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved
    Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved
  • Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved
    Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved
  • Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved
    Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved
  • Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved
    Dickens county grass fire burns 2,300 acres; houses and livestock saved

    Amid high winds on the South Plains Friday afternoon, local residents, ranchers and first responders confirmed that fire danger in West Texas is no joke.

    By midafternoon April 1 calls had come regarding a wildfire east of the White River Lake community, which straddles the Crosby-Dickens county line on the west side of Dickens County. While the exact location of the blaze was not immediately apparent on social media to those who worried their property lay in its path, it was eventually described as west of Spur, between FM 2794 and north to Spot Hill, just east of the Dickens-Crosby County line.

    Followers of White River Reservoir and Texas Spur Facebook pages quickly weighed in with what clarification they could provide, and at 5:30 p.m. Spur Volunteer Fire Department chief Wess Abbott 5:30 p.m., who was ordering area resources from his full-time job post at the Lubbock Fire Department, advised, “Please do not travel on FM 2794 or county road 405. It is not safe to drive through the smoke and we have firefighters on roadways. One house was threatened and saved. The fire did jump county road 405 but fire progression has slowed. Our priorities now is to establish a line on the south flank before we have a wind shift from a cold front.”

    Jan Philley Patterson posted on Facebook, “This was about 3 miles north of us. The wind was out of the south which saved us.”

    About that same time area resident Mary Martin (at CR 405 and FM 836) reported that she and Harry Bob Martin were evacuated and safe, and that cattle on their spread got out okay but their ranch had suffered. The area homes of Martin, his brother Mike Martin, Tony Ratliff, and Jo Ann Rinehart were saved due to the efforts of numerous agencies.

    Abbott thanked Crosbyton VFD, Ralls VFD, Post VFD, Floydada VFD, Dougherty VFD, Motley Co VFD, McAdoo VFD, Dickens VFD, Spur VFD, Les and Joe Fincher water tanker, Dickens County maintainers, Crosby County maintainers, Dickens County commissioners, Dickens Co Sheriff’s Office, Dickens Co assistant EMC Greg Arnold, TxDOT, and the Texas Forest Service for their assistance, and also expressed thanks to those who donated food and made sandwiches for crews.

    By 7 p.m. after a front moved in and winds shifted, the fire began advancing south across FM 2794 toward Red Mud community and Highway 651. The fire was under control about 9 p.m., and the following day the Texas A&M Forest Service strike force was called in at Spur VFD request to check for hot spots and evaluate damage. Earlier estimates of 1,600 acres burned were revised to 2,300 acres lost.

    Chief Abbott confirmed that no warning sirens in Spur were deployed, as this protocol is put in place only if an emergency in the Spur area calls for evacuation or immediately taking shelter. Numerous residents called in to the Dickens County Sheriff’s Office or turned to social media for bulletins.

    The Texas Spur e-Edition