Dry period opens with pair of fires in county

By Kyle Mooty

LPR Editor

After enjoying rains for most of the spring and early summer, Caldwell County is now enduring a dry period with excessive temperatures. That means the possibilities for fires have greatly increased, as proven by a couple of weekend fires that burned acreage.

On Saturday and Sunday, several local departments worked fires for eight hours on two occasions.

The first fire was Saturday on the 1500 block of East Market Street across from a radio tower near Lockhart City Park. The fire began as a controlled burn that got out of hand with the help of some construction materials at the site.

Caldwell County Chief of Emergency Management, Hector Rangel, said no structures were damaged thanks to the help of the Lockhart Fire Department, Mid-County VFD, Travis County FD, Starflight, and Caldwell County Emergency Management.

Starflight was drawing water from the pond at Lockhart City Park to help with the fire, which was in a ravine and made it difficult to fight. About a half-acre was burned.

By Monday morning, Rangel said the fire was 95 percent contained.

On Sunday, another controlled burn by a landowner at 1185 Mineral Springs Road – between Lockhart and Luling – got out of hand when dry grass caught on fire, eventually igniting heavy brush. About 18 acres were burned, and due to the brush, the Texas Forest Service brought in a couple of bulldozer teams to fight the fire.

Mid-County VFD, Maxwell VFD, Dale VFD, Luling VFD, Martindale VFD, Travis County ESD 11, Starflight Helicopter, Texas Forest Service Dozer Crew (two teams), Texas Department of Emergency Management, Luling Medic 8, Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, and Caldwell County Emergency Management responded to that fire.

Rangel said employees of the Pat Baker Company in Kingsbury were especially helpful in providing water and ice for those fighting the fire, as was Pastor Kyle Bishop of Mineral Springs Baptist Church, who opened his church for a cooling station to firefighters.

Again, by Monday morning, 90 percent of that fire had been contained. It burned about 18 acres.