UPDATE: The following is a statement from Trinity County Precinct 1 Constable Woody A. Wallace:
"The fire on FM 3188 is contained at this time. The evacuation has been canceled. However, those who have left are urged to stay out for the night. There will be firemen standing by in the event the fires flare back up. Those who stay behind are warned to be ready in a worst case scenario! The danger is not over so please use caution in your decision."
UPDATE: There have been 14 reported wildfires in 10 counties, including a now 300-acre blaze between Trinity and Groveton.
It is one of at least two wildfires in Trinity County that firefighters have fought today. According to the Texas Forest Service, firefighters have battled wildfires in Sabine, Panola, Houston, Polk, Cherokee, Cass, Red River and Bowie counties. The Red River County fire reached 34 acres before it was contained.
Dorcas Wills Baptist Church, at 201 Robb Street in Trinity, has opened its doors for as many as 15 families, and residents are being asked to evacuate some areas near the fire, according to Trinity County Precinct 1 Constable Woody A. Wallace's Facebook page.
Authorities are evacuating The Landing subdivision on FM 3188, where the 300-acre fire is located. Trinity Fire Department and U.S. Forest Service authorities are on the scene. Crews have circled the fire twice and are within fire lanes to try and get it contained, Wallace said.
"The wind's kind of playing games with it," Wallace told CBS 19 by phone. "One minute, the fire is going one way and the next minute, it's going another way."
TRINITY COUNTY (KYTX) - Firefighters and Texas Forest Service authorities are battling several wildfires, including a Trinity County fire estimated at about 250 acres.
Forest Service Assistant Chief Regional Fire Coordinator David Abernathy, working in the Beaumont area for Tropical Storm Isaac response, said his agency is preparing for the possibility of more wildfires through East and Central Texas over the next several days, due to winds that are pulling drier air from the north into the region.
"The winds won't be all that great, but it pulls that dry air mass in there," Abernathy said. "A small, benign fire can get out of hand in a hurry.
The large Trinity County fire at a timber plantation is zero percent contained as of 5 p.m. The forest service has dispatched five bulldozer crews and a recognizance aircraft to the scene.
Fire crews have completely contained a two-acre fire in Panola County.
However, a second, smaller fire in Trinity County, another in Sabine County, a 10-acre fire in Red River County and a two-acre fire in Cass County are all not contained, according to the Texas Forest Service.
(Courtesy of Trinity County Constable Woody Wallace's Facebook page)
(Courtesy of Trinity County Constable Woody Wallace's Facebook page)
