Tractor shredder may have caused Texas wildfire

Rick Jervis | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Texas couple cries when home isn't burned by wildfire The Hidden Pines fire has burned dozens of homes and structures in Bastrop County, Texas. One couple had been evacuated from their home for three days without knowing its fate.

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas — An overheated tractor bearing may have caused the spark that ignited the sprawling blaze in this fire-prone area, a county official said Friday.

A worker on a private ranch around 50 miles east of Austin was using a tractor to pull a weed shredder at around noon Tuesday when he noticed a line of fire trailing him, Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said. The fire quickly spread among the dry weeds. Within 20 minutes, it was raging out of control, he said. The exact cause was still under investigation.

The Hidden Pines Fire, as it is being called, has since consumed 4,582 acres, destroyed 40 homes and buildings and was about one-fourth contained, Pape said. On Friday, the weather was again hot and dry -- conditions that could prolong the fire's spread, he said.

"This will be the day that tells us what happens," Pape said. "Today will determine if the fire stays within the fire line and is out in a few days, or if it's going to continue to spread."

The estimated 300 firefighters battling the blaze on Friday were eagerly awaiting the arrival of a DC-10 air tanker capable of dropping 4,000 gallons of retardant at a time on the blaze. The amount of water dropped from the air tanker is enough to "crush a car" and could help tame the blaze, Pape said.

On Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for the county, about 40 miles southeast of Austin.

So far, residents of about 400 homes have been advised to evacuate since the fire began Tuesday, officials said. The cause of the blaze is unknown. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

On Thursday, helicopters dropped water on the bone dry land.

"It looks like pouring a cup of water on a big ol' bonfire," said Cody Albrecht as he watched a Chinook helicopter drop its bucket of water on the flames.

The blaze recalled memories of the 2011 Bastrop fire that killed two people, wiped out 1,700 homes and businesses and mauled through more than 32,000 acres in the same area. That fire -- actually three fires that converged in this area -- was the costliest and most destructive fire in Texas history.

The fire cost $360 million in damages and generated nearly 2,000 insurance claims, according to the the Insurance Council of Texas.

Conditions were eerily similar this time around, with record heat the past week and dry conditions, Pape said. One major difference this time: Nearly no wind. In 2011, gusty winds fanned the blaze and spread it over a large swath of pine forest, he said.

Still, locals were on edge. Residents attended a public meeting Thursday evening and sat tensely as the addresses of 34 newly-destroyed homes were read out -- much the way they did four years ago.

"This is like a rerun," Pape said. "Second verse of the same song."

And likely not the last. The Hidden Pines Fire is the result of urban sprawl and development into areas historically prone to wildfires. The wooded area where the firefighters are battling the blaze was once mostly grassland with a scattering of Juniper trees known as a "fire-dependent ecosystem" that relied on natural fires to stem vegetation growth, said Kari Hines, wildland urban interface specialist at Texas A&M Forest Service.

As homes were built and residents moved in, the fires were pushed out and vegetation thickened, she said. Today, the grassland has become thick groves of Juniper trees that make an idyllic suburban setting but a dangerous tinderbox for wildfires, Hines said.

"Fires become faster and harder to fight," she said.

Pape added: "It's a beautiful place to live, but when things go bad, they go bad quickly."

Bastrop County officials hope the arrival of a cool front over the weekend will help slow the advance of the fire. No rain is in sight to extinguish the latest flare-up that has threatened hundreds of homes, but calming and shifting winds pushed the blaze away from populated Bastrop County subdivisions on Thursday.

Evacuation orders remained in place in most residential areas north and west of the fire, but not on Jamie Taylor's block. She couldn't hide her relief when officials said her street was now safe.

"When we left yesterday, it was probably a quarter-of-a-mile away from our house," she said through tears.

This was her third evacuation for a fire, and she thought this would the last, if her home was destroyed.

In announcing the disaster declaration Thursday, Abbott said additional resources from around the country, including a national incident management team, were to arrive Friday. Resources also were expected from Florida and Georgia.

Contributing: WFAA-TV, Dallas,, KVUE-TV, Austin; The Associated Press.