Fed by gusty winds and rising temperatures, two wildfires are burning today in the Texas Hill Country, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Kari Hines with the Texas A&M Forest Service says the Blanco Fire has consumed 800 acres and is about 45% contained, while the Llano Fire, which has burned 1500 acres, is just 15% contained.
"Fairly rural country, large acreage ranch tracts, a lot of juniper, a lot of mesquite, scattered homes, scattered cabins," she says, describing the countryside around both of the fires. "Nothing in the line of the fire right now."
She says today, the fire is mainly being fought from the air.
"We do have an increase in fire behavior this afternoon with the rising temperatures and dropping humidities," she said. "So there is a whole bunch of vegetation last night that is inside the peremeter of the fire that didn't get burned before that is burning today."
Much of the Hill Country avoided the drenching rains that pounded the metro San Antonio area last week.Much of the area is in danger of brush fires as the temperatures soar above 100 degrees and stay there, at least through this coming weekend.
PHOTO' LLANO COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, VIA SPECTRUM NEWS AUSTIN.