Houston Area Sees Spike In Brush Fires

[Double L]

Dec. 29, 2005, 1:13AM

Area sees spike in brush fires

Harris County normally has 5 per day, but officials recorded 110 in a four-day period

By DALE LEZON

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

As deadly grass fires raged in the north-central part of the state, Harris County fire officials battled a spate of brush fires this week and fear dry conditions and high winds could spark even more flare-ups.

"It's going to be intense, especially if people don't be careful with fireworks," said Wes Cole, chief of the Northwest Volunteer Fire Department.

According to the Texas Forest Service, the fire risk in the county is far less than near the Oklahoma border and as far south as Fort Worth, where by late Wednesday fires had scorched nearly 14,000 acres, destroyed more than 200 homes and been blamed in at least three deaths.

Harris County fire officials say similar conditions here account for a sharp spike in the number of grass fires.

Normally, the county records about five grass fires a day, but from Saturday through Tuesday, the latest figures available, 110 grass fires were reported. There were 112 reported during the first three weeks of the month, said Mike Montgomery, county fire marshal.

No significant damage and no injuries have been reported, Montgomery said. Lack of rainfall and dry conditions account for the increased fires, he said.

Also, plants that died after a freeze in mid-December became brittle, tinder-dry fuel, Montgomery said.

"The conditions are such now that a spark, an ember, can start a fire," he added.

Drought conditions have led to bans on aerial fireworks in Harris, Brazoria and Fort Bend counties. Outdoor burn bans are in effect in Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties, according to the Texas Forest Service.

The local area is only a handful of inches below normal for rainfall this year, but the past seven months of the year, particularly June, which had 0.08 inch, have been very dry, said Chuck Roeseler, metrologist with the National Weather Service in League City.

Normally, June records about 5.35 inches of rainfall, Roeseler said.

He said December rainfall is so far about 3 inches above normal, but most of that was recorded on Dec. 14, when a record 5.19 inches of rain fell. Much of that day's precipitation drained into bayous and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico before it could soak into the ground.

The current parched conditions have been created by high pressure areas over Texas, which keep moist air away, and won't change for weeks, Roeseler said.

"The weather pattern that is creating the unusually dry weather will stay in place at least for the first two weeks of January," he said.

One of the biggest factors in the northern fires has been wind gusts of about 40 mph. Here, winds reached about 20 mph Tuesday, Montgomery said.

He said Cole's department, which covers 22 square miles near Texas 249 and the North Sam Houston Tollway, has seen many of the largest flare-ups.

Cole said the fires range up to about two acres and are most dangerous when they are near homes and buildings. Fire officials caution people to clear dry grass and brush from near their homes to help prevent grass fires from spreading to houses.

dale.lezon@chron.com

[RedScare]

Nice use of the bold key. Artfully spaced amongst the non-bold sentences.

[Double L]

Thanks; I was just highlighting the important parts for those who don't want to read the whole article.

Edited December 30, 2005 by Double L

[Subdude]

Interesting article. Somehow I never think of dry conditions as being a problem in Houston; more the opposite.

[DJ V Lawrence]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/disp/story...an/3719173.html

It's been crazy for the Panhandle. Are these preventable? Scary stuff...

[editor]

It's my God-given right as a Texan to throw my lit cigarettes out my window, and burn trash in my backyard. I don't care if it burns down your kid's school. It's my right as a Texan, and you can only take it from me when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

Sorry about that. I was channeling someone I know who lives in the 1960 area.

[jgs1419]

There is (was) a wooden train trestle that crosses White Oak bayou north of I-10 and just west of Studemont/Montrose. When I came home from work yesterday, it was ablaze. A real Emergency, Station #51, call Rampart affair complete with half a dozen trucks, Hook and Ladder and about ten cars. The brush is pretty high in that part of the bayou. I haven't read how it started but there are a couple of homeless camps in there. It can't be easy to start a fire on creosote timber, but once it gets going, it's pretty hard to stop. I hope no one was hurt.

Edited March 23, 2006 by jgs1419