Published: March 03, 2008 04:19 pm      

Local airport again base for wildfire response teams

By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

PALO PINTO COUNTY – In a proclamation dated Friday, Gov. Rick Perry extended a state of disaster and certified that 216 of the state’s 254 counties continue to be “threatened by extreme fire hazard.”

“This a renewal of the proclamation issued on Jan. 29,” stated Palo Pinto County Judge Mike Smiddy.

Palo Pinto is among the 216 counties covered in the declaration.

“This means that our county is eligible for state assistance in the event of a wildfire situation,” Smiddy added.

In his proclamation, Perry cited “dry frontal passages pose significant fire danger because of the large amount of cured grass across the state.”

The season’s cold fronts have brought strong, drying winds and low relative humidity. Sparks from something as small as a cigarette or emptied ashes have ignited acres in the county.

Fire departments throughout the state have reported 177 fires for 27,917 acres burned through the Texas Forest Service’s online reporting system.

Mineral Wells Municipal Airport supervisor Bobby Bateman reported that they have provided a staging area for firefighting crews during the past month.

Stationed at the airport is the Louisiana Strike Team No. 9, a bulldozer strike force comprised of 12 Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry team members. Also at the airport are safety, dispatch and logistical personnel from the U.S. Forest Service, Texas Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.

The strike team arrived in Mineral Wells Saturday. They were dispatched to the Archer County Fire Feb. 24 with their three John Deere 650 bulldozers. They estimated the fire – two miles from Archer City – was just over 13,500 acres. During the week, they also fought the 485-acre Troy Fire in Jack County, 16 miles southeast of Archer City.

In addition, the airport is the staging location for air crew members and a bright yellow Sikorsky S-61 Fire Tanker helicopter from Oregon-based Carson Helicopters. The yellow “bird” can hold up to 1,000 gallons of water and fill up from a lake, stock tank or pool in about 20 seconds.

Bateman said the helicopter was out for five hours on Thursday and fought fires in Archer, Jack and Eastland counties last week.

According to the Forest Service, air tankers and helicopters have been critical in slowing the spread of fires and saving structures during the past month. Since Feb. 1, 871,148 gallons of water have been dropped by contract aircraft to suppress Texas fires. National Guard helicopters have also contributed heavily to the suppression efforts.

According to Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department Chief Steve Perdue, Mineral Wells is one of several communities housing fire resource deployment equipment and crews. The State Incident Command Post is stationed at the airport in Granbury.