KRTS spoke about the Rock House Fire with Catherine Hibbard, Public Information – Southern Area Incident Management Team – part of the Blue Team.
The Rock House Fire has been updated to a total of 275,378 acres. It is now listed at 66% containment. The fire grew 44,000 acres yesterday (Tuesday) due to the strong winds – what fire officials call a “wind event.”
Yesterday and last night, the north part of Rock House Fire made a run about two miles northeast of Madera Canyon Road toward Balmorhea. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from jumping Highway 17. No residential structures were lost, though one outbuilding was lost.
An additional area of concern has been to the north and west of McDonald Observatory, near Highway 118. This fire got to a point about a mile from the road, Highway 118. Fire officials responded with 150 firefighters Tuesday night, and they prevented it from hitting the road. Also, the fire has slowed in growth.
If conditions are favorable Wednesday, firefighters hope to set a burn-out along Highway 118, west of the McDonald Observatory. UPDATE: Conditions today proved favorable, and crews began that controlled burn shortly after 11 AM.
Fire officials spoke at the McDonald Observatory briefing meeting last night at 6:30 PM at the Visitors Center. It was well-attended by area residents, plus Jeff Davis County Commissioners Beth Bencomo and Larry Francell were present.
Highway 118, north of Limpia Crossing, north of Sunrise Stables, was closed briefly last night. They expect it would be temporarily closed again today – but open to local traffic only – if the burnout is conducted along that road.
The Forest Service expects to use aerial resources on Wednesday afternoon. These include 3 heavy helicopters, 1 medium helicopter, and 2 small helicopters used for reconnaissance. There are also 4 single-engine air tankers, as well as 4 modified C-130s with 3000 gallon tanks .
KRTS asked about the fire’s proximity to the Davis Mountains Resort, the DMR. At its nearest point, it looks to be about 5 miles to the resort. It was noted that even with favorable prevailing winds, the fire was backing against the wind on Tuesday. The overnight spread of the fire toward the DMR was slower than expected.