Eight thousand people had to be evacuated in our county yesterday. That's about 20 miles (a quick estimate) west from where we live. The winds have been so high from Tropical Storm Lee, I'm sure that has been a contributing factor in the rapid spread of fires.

The fire in the Bastrop area is so tragic. That is such a beautiful area of Texas with all the lovely pine trees. It only take the tiniest spark to start a blaze with pine needles. Much of the park has been burned, so I read. What a shame!

Avedon - I sure hope the fire doesn't get to you.

Nancy

That is just awful and I'm so sorry for you and all our friends on the forum in that part of the country. It seems there is weather-related tragedy all across our country. After all the flooding here in the east from the hurricane, it seems unfair that it is so dry elsewhere.
Please be careful, and I'll keep you in my prayers.

Celeste

Nancy, I don't know where in Texas you live, but we heard that Houston and Anderson counties were being evacuated, so that must be a lot of people. The Bastrop fire is terrible with so many homes lost, do not know about any deaths. The big fire south of us in now moving into Marian County, and there's no telling if it will ever be stopped any time soon. This is truly a disaster. There is no rain predicted here at all, probably the same for you.
Thank you, Celeste, for the kind words. Amazing that so many people are being flooded out or burned out. Nature is being very unkind to so many of us. We can only hope the weather pattern begins to change and quickly. Avedon

Hope everyone is safe and in no danger from the fires. I think that Ed is from Texas too so hopefully he is okay too.

Julia

I saw a lot about the fires in Texas on the news last night and also this morning. I can't believe how bad it is. Some rain could do so much good there and here I sit while it pours, rained overnight and going to continue rain until Friday. NJ rivers can't take it and might flood again. Nothing seems to get balanced out.

Here is hoping for rain for all of dry Texas and no more fires. I sure hope you stay safe.

I was wondering how close some of you might be to the fires. So very terrible, I can't imagine having to go through something like that. I hope rain comes your way very soon, sure wish I could send ours your way.

So concerned for you and praying for relief soon!

I just can't imagine what the fires must be like. So unfair that one part of the country is flooded, and another so dry. Hope all of you are safe. I really don't remember there being such wide spread fires in Texas before. You are smart to keep at least one person home in case of a fast evacuation. Cindy

It's hard to imagine what those of you in the fire areas must be going through. I'm sure all the rest of us are thinking of you and hoping things will improve soon. I was so hoping that Lee would go into Texas and give you all some relief. Instead it's dumping rain on people who are already flooded. So frustrating when there is something like this that you can't do anything about. Please keep us posted and let us know that you are alright.
Val

Latest update: The fire has now consumed 14,000 acres and is still moving south. At one point, we were concerned that it somehow had managed to start backtracking toward us, but evidently not so, at least not at this point. The winds are supposed to be from the northeast which would keep this fire away from us, but we cannot let our guard down. I think Ed is somewhere in the Houston area and we have relatives there. All I have heard from them is that it's terribly dry, but they have not said anything about fire. Maybe Ed will check in and let us know how he's doing, and all others that are being affected this way.
Julia, Rita, Ngraham, Cracking, Cindy, and Val, nice to hear from you and thanks for the concern. I'll be posting more and hopefully, the news will be better. Avedon

I was watching the national news and they were reporting about the fires complete with pictures. Just devistating. I really pray it does not come near you and you stay safe.

I have been watching the news also about these fires..Its just terrible all over texas.

AVEDON: I did not know that you are in Texas.I pray that them fires do not come close to you and other forum friends that is in Texas.I also pray for the firefighters thats trying so hard to get a handle on the mess and get them under control.I seen one report today that 2 deaths has been reported, but, didnt hear if it was fire fighters or others in the path of these fires.I have not heard of any fires in Arkansas lately..Its a shame that the folks on the east coast is fighting floods and Texas is so dry and needing water so badly.And some would be welcome here, too.

Jean

Ed is indeed in the Houston area. There haven't been any fires close to here, but yesterday my wife and I came back from Austin on 290 (since 71 was closed), and we could see the smoke from the fires in the distance to the south. The already-heavy holiday traffic was even worse with people evacuating. It was very surreal and ominous.

Nate

My heart goes out to you all facing this struggle. We had a mini drought the start of the summer. 7 weeks without rain and higher then normal temps. When I attempt to compound that experience to try and imagine this summer for you it is impossible, overwhelming. I pray that nature finds some balance soon and brings relief. Stay safe!

Be safe everyone out in Texas. I heard on the news this morning that a momma and baby didn't get out in time. I hope they can get this under control fast.

Best wishes to all of you in Texas. Please stay safe!

Avedon and Nancy,

My heart goes out to you for the unbelievable destruction and the stress of having to be on watch in case a quick evacuation becomes necessary.

It is so sad to hear about the horrific damage and loss.

Please stay safe. I will certainly be praying for all of you and praying for rain for Texas.

kay

The fires east of Austin are tragic. Huge! We really need rain in this area. Stay safe Nancy and Avedon. I am on the gulf side of Houston, so there's lots of concrete between me and the fires. I wish the best for everyone in that area.
Ed

Latest on the fires here, now 30,ooo acres burned-- can you believe it, and maybe there are worse fires elsewhere. This is a rural area, mostly ranches, pasture land and wood, so amazingly not a lot of homes have been destroyed and no lives lost so far. We heard the National Guard had been called out, don't know how many are fighting the fires. I am going to take supplies over to a local staging area, we must all do our part to help out these people putting their lives on the line for us. Something really bad came out in the newspaper today--several fires were started in the eastern part of the county, and these are arson fires. Just what we need, some nut case setting fires.
So glad to hear from all of you on the forum. I meant to say something about Nate checking in, remembered he's also a Texan, and now we have heard from him and Ed. Glad you guys are okay. I am wondering how Nancy is doing. Avedon

This whole region, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma has been experiencing a drought and wildfires are not far behind. We've had our own smaller fires (by comparison to Texas), and it's been on our news just about every week where some poor person in Oklahoma has lost everything they had because of these fires....... A few years ago I researched pine needles for mulch and someone from Texas warned me against them just because of the fire hazard. When I looked at all the trees going up in flame in the film footage of the Texas fires I noticed that most of them were pine. Whoever that Texan was that warned me about them I say thanks you and hope you are safe. Avedon, I'd pot any daylilies I received until this mess is over. That way you could take them with you if worse comes to worse. But outside of saving yourselves, I hope if anything happens the cat makes it out with you. I pray for all of you in harms way......Maryl

Just checking in to see how its going Avedon. I so hope you guys get some rain or some sort of relief soon. Hopefully they will get it under control soon and no lives will be lost. You are so sweet to think of others while you are right there so close to the fire yourself. Stay safe to everyone and keep checking in with us. Judy

I hope our Texas members will stay safe. It's so scary to see those fires burning out of control.

Debra

So glad that so far all of our friends in Texas are doing OK lets all pray it stays that way.It is always very scary when your at the whims of mother nature whether it's from fire or hurricane or any form of extreme wheather. It's really sad though that wildfires so often have a human element that are the cause of the devastation.
Linda

I don't know how many acres have been burned, but the fire is NOT CONTAINED, seems to be steadily moving south. I heard that 30 structures had been destroyed, but no lives lost. There are still more fires breaking out north and east of us, but not too close to us so far. We live in the northeast corner of Texas close to Arkansas and Louisiana, commonly called the ARK-LA-TEX. There are lots of pine trees because logging is a big business. In our yard, we have several large tall pines, and we use the pine needles to mulch our gardens. We know that this is a real fire hazard, so if fire does start here, we nave to move quickly. Also, we have woods on three sides of our property so you get the picture.
I was wondering how Maryl was faring in Oklahoma, knew they were very dry, too. So glad to hear that you are safe, but sad for all others who have been badly affected by the fires. The really bad news is that there is not rain at all in the future. These tropical systems are going away from us. Well, we will just have to bite the bullet and ride this out.
On a lighter note, I hope, today my husband was watering some of the daylilies and discovered two scapes coming up on a NOID daylily we have. This was a passalong that was supposed to be DOUBLE DONNIE. When it bloomed, it turned out to be a beautiful single pale lemon-lime color. We haven't a clue what this is, so we call it SINGLE SOMEBODY, and I think it must be a good one to weather all the adversity of the drought and high temps. If it manages to bloom, then it will be a definitel keeper.
One more thing, there are many people on the east coast suffering from floods, so hope they safe. If you are on the Forum, please let us know how things are with you if you might be affected by floods. Avedon

Fires are awful, really hope you will get rain! And soon!
Great news about Single Somebody sending up scapes :)

We are O.K. We live in (burning) Montgomery County north of Houston, but fortunately so far, we are on the east side of I-45. The fires have been on the other side in the western part of the county, as well as Grimes and Waller counties. There was another fire about 10-15 miles from here down at Oak Ridge North. I read where it started in mulch.

Pine needles are like little gasoline-soaked straws. The tiniest spark can start them burning rapidly. If I had any in my yard now, I'd be watering them down.

I read today where this is the hottest summer of record here in Texas. We are under water restrictions and can only water our lawns between 10 P.M. and 4 A.M. My next-door neighbor is a widow who still doesn't have a sprinkler system installed. She is terrified of going out in the middle of the night to water her grass. I feel for her.

If I get the energy (after planting seeds all morning), I'll try and take a picture of one of my devastated daylily beds so you all can see just how bad it is. It's so sad to look at it. It better rain soon, because I have zillions of seedlings camping out on my patio.

Nancy

Nancy, glad to know you are not burned out or anything like that. Thanks for the tip on the pine needles. My husband is out watering right now. We just hope our well holds out through this ordeal. The big fire down south hasn't slowed down, and I think firefighters are coming in from Californa. One of the weather forecasters here says there is a slight chance of rain next week, but I don't know where it could be coming from. I don't see any system being able to break through this heat dome over us. What's the weather word from your area? Avedon

Avedon: How are things going for you?

Julia

No rain in sight here, either. I am hoping against hope that the tropical disturbance down in the Bay of Campeche will defy all computer odds and wander over this way. I never thought I'd see the day I would hope for a tropical storm.

Our son and his friends were home one Christmas a few years ago, when we lived up in the woods. They had some of those little firecracker things that you throw on the ground, and they pop. We went out to the road where there was no grass, and one of them happened to bounce over to the other side of the road, which was all forest. Immediately the pine needles flared up and begin to burn, and they had to stomp the fire out. I had been cautioning them about fireworks, and that made a believer out of them. And...we weren't even in a drought condition!

Nancy

Here's the latest: Over 50,000 acres have been burned by this fire covering 2 counties. It is 50% contained, but because of the low 15-20% humidity, and the fact that we haven't had any appreciable rain since June, it's so difficult to keep this thing down. I think the last number I had on structures being destroyed was 100, but who knows? It could be more. The really , really bad news is that a dry winter is being predicted, and this means we must contend with fire danger all the time now even into next year.
Thanks to all for their concern; so far, we personally are okay, and there are no fires anywhere around us at this time, bur we know how quickly that can change. Naturally, I will post if something bad arises. Avedon