Firefighters from four counties spent much of the weekend fighting a stubborn wildfire near Hunt Road and FM 359 north of Fulshear.
The blaze was first reported around 3 p.m. Friday and, at one point, threatened three homes forcing firefighters to make a stand to prevent the wind-whipped flames from consuming the residences.
Some area residents were asked to voluntarily evacuate as a precaution and, by around 9 p.m., firefighters managed to hold the flames about a hundred feet short of the closest home.
At the height of the blaze, a dozen fire departments from Fort Bend, Harris, Waller and Austin counties had some 75 firefighters working to beat back the flames.
Richmond Assistant Fire Chief Mike Hafer was in charge of operations. He said extremely dry conditions, extremely thick underbrush and strong winds helped the fire spread quickly.
“There’s about 500-600 acres involved. It’s a real tough fire to get at because it’s so thick in there,” Hafer said. “We’ve been able to keep it away from the houses, but it’s tough to operate back there and it’s really wearing our firefighters out.”
Friday evening, fire departments from Fulshear-Simonton, Richmond, Rosenberg, San Felipe-Frydek, Brookshire, Pattison, Pecan Grove, Willowfork, Katy, West I-10, Cy-Fair and Monaville were all at the scene.
A bulldozer from the Cy-Fair Fire Department was used to cut a fire line to halt the forward progress of the blaze and to help firefighters gain access through the underbrush.
Two firefighters from the West I-10 Fire Department received minor injuries when they were hit by falling tree branches. They were treated at the scene by Fort Bend County EMS personnel. Their names were not immediately available.
As night fell, winds speeds dropped, allowing some of the firefighters to be released from the scene.
“The winds were a big factor; once they started to drop it was a lot easier to control the advance of the fire,” Hafer said.
Although firefighters thought they had the blaze tapped around 1 a.m. Saturday morning, it reignited shortly after daybreak as winds again increased. The re-ignition brought at least eight fire departments back to the scene to again battle the stubborn blaze.
This time, Hafer said, they changed tactics, lighting backfires to consume potential fuel in advance of the fire and using a helicopter from the Texas Forest Service to drop water into the heart of the fire.
Hafer praised the cooperation of all departments involved.
“Everybody worked hard and worked well together. We were able to finally get it handled with the help of all the fire departments and the Texas Forest Service,” Hafer said. “They all did a great job.”
A small crew of firefighters remained on the scene late Saturday putting out small “hot spots” and guarding against another re-ignition.
Between 500-600 acres were burned. No homes of structures were lost.
The Fort Bend Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause.
