Five Woodlands Fire Department firefighters are working the Ross Fire in North Texas. The crew deployed with a truck and a utility terrain vehicle across three separate teams as the blaze holds at 31% containment.
The department, led by Fire Chief Palmer Buck, said in a post to followers that multiple area departments have sent personnel and equipment to wildfires across Texas and that the Ross Fire is the largest of them, the Montgomery County Police Reporter reported Sunday, Aug. 30.
The fire ignited around 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24 near U.S. Highway 180 and FM 919 in Palo Pinto County. It is the second-largest wildfire in North Texas history, trailing only the Possum Kingdom Complex Fire, which burned 126,734 acres in April 2011 across much of the same terrain. The Texas A&M Forest Service posted an operational update Monday, Aug. 31, listing the fire at 85,303 acres and 31% contained. The Police Reporter reported 89,127 acres a day earlier; the difference may reflect different measurement timing.
The TWFD deployment runs through the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS), a statewide mobilization framework managed by the Texas A&M Forest Service. The state bears the cost.
The Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office said in an Aug. 26 release that county fire departments had sent crews and equipment to assist under TIFMAS and that those crews would work 14 to 21 days before returning home.
Montgomery County stretched across four fronts
The Woodlands crew is one piece of a broader county commitment. At least eight Montgomery County-area agencies have personnel on wildfire assignments across Texas, with more than 20 local firefighters confirmed on the lines, the Police Reporter reported.
Those crews are spread across at least four separate fronts:
- Ross Fire (Jack and Palo Pinto counties): TWFD and Montgomery County Emergency Services District 9, which sent five firefighters with a Type 6 engine and a tender.
- Brown Fire (Oldham County, Panhandle): East Montgomery County Fire Department's Brush 152, assigned to Strike Team 188.
- Rio Escondido Fire (near Evant, Central Texas): South Montgomery County Fire Department, assigned as a single resource to the San Angelo Task Force.
- Additional assignments: Needham Fire & Rescue (Montgomery County ESD 4) and others have members deployed but have not identified which incidents.
The North Montgomery County Fire Department has a strike team leader working in the Amarillo area with Strike Team 188, which has responded to five wildfires alongside the Bomb City Task Force since deploying. The department also has two Type 6 units working elsewhere in the state.
One crew drafted water from a swimming pool
During overnight structure protection on the Rio Escondido Fire, the South Montgomery County crew drafted water from an above-ground swimming pool to keep their 300-gallon booster tank filled. The crew returned to the fire line the following day.
Near Possum Kingdom Dam, firefighters are preparing for a possible tactical firing operation in steep, rocky bluffs. The burn would clear vegetation between the fire and containment lines. Officials said the operation would proceed only if conditions are favorable.
At least five structures have been destroyed, and evacuations have been ordered for portions of Jack and Palo Pinto counties.
Back home, the Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office said wildfire numbers in the county have stayed relatively low, with local crews quickly knocking down the few that have broken out. Burning household trash in or around subdivisions and on less than five acres is prohibited year-round in Montgomery County. Residents are asked to hold off on burning limbs and leaves until conditions improve.
