UPDATED: This article was updated at 8:40 p.m. to provide additional information and updates regarding the status of the fire.
HAYS COUNTY — Part of the Wimberley Valley was blanketed in smoke this evening as emergency crews worked to contain a large grass fire near FM 2325 and Jacobs Well Elementary School. Around 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, local emergency crews received a call to respond to the fire. Photo attributed to Wimberley Fire Rescue.
Initially, FM 2325 was closed off, but was reopened to traffic around 7:00 p.m. According to Wimberley Fire Rescue, the fire spread quickly and came close to Jacobs Well Elementary School and two homes. All are safe at this time, and residents in the immediate area were evacuated.
Walter Flocke, WUI Coordinator for Texas A&M Forest Service, said that the cause of the fire is still being investigated but is likely manmade. As of 7:09 p.m. the fire had not reached containment, but forward progression had been stopped.
“So crews will be here probably all night working on containment now. We’re in the long process now. Mopping up and building all of our containment line and watching this,” said Flocke. “We are expecting critical fire weather to continue throughout the night. Our humidity tonight is only going to recover into the 30s which is very low. So we could still see heat on this fire throughout the night. So we’ll be here for a while.”
According to Flocke, the fire is between 50 to 60 acres, and no structures have been lost or injuries reported.
Multiple different departments have responded to the scene including North Hays Fire Rescue, South Hays Fire, San Marcos Fire, Kyle Fire, Buda Fire, Canyon Lake Fire, Alpine Fire, Tri-County Fire and many more.
Flocke said that three single-engine air tankers and a helicopter dumping buckets of water are surveilling the fire. Star Flight also responded to the call for mutual aid.
This is an ongoing situation, Corridor News will provide updates as they become available.
