Firestorm ravages county countryside as firefighters battle on multiple fronts
Above, after expending all the water aboard Engine 37, Gonzales firefighters watch helplessly as a huge pile of railroad timbers are engulfed by fire Tuesday afternoon. Two blazes off Harwood Road in northern Gonzales County were preceded by a firestorm along I-10 (far left and right) that charred more than 60 acres and threatened the home of a invalid man who had to be rescued by firefighters.
Firefighters from Gonzales assisted by personnel and equipment from throughout the county and neighboring districts battled raging grass fires on at least three fronts Tuesday afternoon, as almost 100 acres were charred before the blazes could be subdued.
Blazes ravaged the countryside along I-10 near Waelder, and then along the Southern Pacific rail line at County Road 237 and near County Road 184, producing a fireball that sent black smoke billowing into the sky that was visible for miles.
Train spark fires are blamed for the fires adjacent to Harwood Road, while a tire blowout on a truck pulling a trailer on I-10 sparked the blaze that winds swept across the median and across the countryside.
Firefighters from Gonzales, Waelder, Luling, Belmont, Smiley, Ottine and Delhi converged on the three blazes, working in concert to put out what quickly became a firestorm.
The I-10 blaze just east of County Road 424, spread north toward County Road 422, devouring more than 60 acres and threatening the residence of an infirmed man who firefighters had to rescue from the approaching fire. Two abandoned barns were consumed in the wildfire that took seven hours for officials to contain.
Another fire in the area near Thompsonville on Country Road 444 erupted Thursday, as drought conditions and searing temperatures continue as a recipe for disaster in the pasture.
Fire Marshal Keith Schmidt said a fire off of County Road 794 branched out to County Roads 184 and 237. “The fire on 184 burned 25-30 acres of brush,” he said. “No structures were consumed in the fire, and there were no injuries. The 237 fire was a bundle of railroad ties that caught fire.
“That (the 237 blaze) was a contained fire, and it did not spread to any surrounding acreage,” he said.
As fire engulfed the huge pile of creosote-covered railroad ties, choking the sky with dense black smoke, a firefighter on the scene who used all the water aboard Engine 37 trying to contain the blaze watched helplessly and conceded: “We ain’t gonna [be able to] put that out.”
Brush trucks also responded in an attempt to keep the inferno from spreading beyond the rail timbers.
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