Strong winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee pushed fierce wildfires near Austin, Texas and prompted the evacuation of thousands. The fast moving fires exploded on Sunday destroying 300 homes and killing a woman and her child.
One fire in Gregg County turned into a killer on Sunday when a 20-year-old mother and her daughter were killed. Sheriff Maxey Cerliano said the flames engulfed the family's mobile home before they could escape.
The biggest fire in Bastrop County now stretches some 16 miles in east Texas and is one of nearly two dozen reported in recent days. Widespread damage has been seen as the blaze moves quickly and uncontrolled.
The 14,000 acre blaze has moved unchecked, jumping the Colorado River twice according to the Texas Forest Service. The latest NASA MODIS satellite imagery indicates the blaze may now be as big as 25,000 acres and has jumped Highway 95.
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Thousands of residents have been ordered evacuated as the flames continue their advance. The subdivisions of Circle D, K.C. Estates, Pine Forest, Colovista, and Tahitian Village are among those being ordered out of their homes.
A Type 1 incident management team is expected to take over management of the fire as Texas' resources are stretched to the limit. The Austin Fire Department took the unprecedented step of issuing a public appeal for all firefighters in the area to report for duty.
In addition to the hundreds of firefighters on the ground, the state said four heavy tankers, 15 single-engine airtankers, 12 helicopters, and 13 aerial supervision aircraft will be flying over the fires today.
Suffering from a devastating drought and the hottest August on record, Texas had been hoping for relief as Tropical Storm Lee formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Only parts of southeast Texas saw precipitation from the storm however. Further to the north and west, winds were the result and proved to be the last thing the state needed.
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