Ed. note: At the scene in April, a person speaking on behalf of the Texas Forest Service described the Rock House Fire as the largest in history. However, at least two fires were larger since the TFS began collecting acreage data for fires in 1985.

The Big Country Fire burned March 10–15, 1988, and consumed 366,000 acres northeast of Abilene. It advanced 60 miles to the north before turning west and threatening the town of Albany.

The largest fire was the East Amarillo Complex Fire, which included the Borger and the I-40 Fires. It consumed over 907,245 acres during March 12-16, 2006. Ignited by power lines blown down by high winds, the fires resulted in the death of 11 civilian and one firefighter. Seven communities were evacuated and over 4,000 head of livestock were destroyed.

FORT DAVIS Firefighters from 32 states continued working Monday to try to hold back what is now being called the largest wildfire in Texas history.

“Just a variety of tactics,” Tyler Kuhn of the Payson (Ariz.) Hotshots crew said Wednesday evening as he worked along Highway 118 near McDonald Observatory. “We’ve been doing a lot of burnout operations.”

The burnouts, a type of controlled burn, are designed to slow the fire as it spreads through the Davis Mountains, seeking to keep it from jumping to the south side of the highway northwest of Fort Davis. Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Hannah Farley said they are considered a Type 1 crew, “the best of the best.”

On Wednesday, the Rock House fire burned nearly another 17,000 acres and was 66 percent contained, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Hannah Farley said. This comes on top of 45,000 acres burned Tuesday. Since it started April 9 near Marfa, the fire has burned 292,739 acres.

The fire’s incident management team has taken over Davis Mountains State Park, where most of the crew of 300 stays either at Indian Lodge or in pup tents at the park campgrounds, Farley said. The meeting room at the lodge has been turned into a command center for fire operations.

The high winds Tuesday helped drop the fire down from 75 percent contained, forest service spokeswoman Nicole Hawk said. Hawk said the fire has been moving up slope in the Davis Mountains because the heat fuels the dead vegetation in front of it.

“It’s even more explosive as it moves up the slope,” she said.

But it doesn’t appear to currently threaten Fort Davis or other populated communities, Hawk said. All structures that have burned in recent days are unoccupied “out buildings,” she said.

“It would have to jump 118 and cross a whole lot of territory to get back to Fort Davis,” she said. “Our game plan is to hold it before it gets to 118.”

Matt Croswait was part of a crew working on just that Wednesday. They came from Carson City, Nev., 13 days ago.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we came down here, but we were prepared for the long haul,” he said.

An electrical shortage in an abandoned structure is believed to have started the fire.

Lee Sands of Groveland, Calif., said the fire was familiar.

“It kind of compares to our Southern California fires, just the way they move and the size of them and stuff,” he said.

So far, no firefighters have been seriously injured, Hawk said.

“We’ve been stressing safety in every meeting,” she said.

Firefighters say they appreciate the hospitality they’ve received when not working. They are required to have eight hours rest for every 16 hours they work.

When they come back, they have crews on hand to wash their clothes and feed them. The site may be reminiscent of the Works Project Administration crews that built Indian Lodge in the 1930s. Except, instead of building the hotel, they are making sure the Indian Lodge, observatory and other attractions stay in place for generations to come.

“The camp’s fine,” Sands said. “We’ve got a little spot picked out. It’s not a big deal.”

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