Perry Asks For Disaster Declaration For State Due To Wildfires

POSSUM KINGDOM LAKE (CBSDFW.COM) - Three more communities were evacuated Sunday after billowing winds caused wildfires to spread over thousands of acres in areas about 90 miles west of Fort Worth.

Wind speed dropped Saturday, allowing firefighters to make some headway in battling the blazes. But 30 mile-per-hour gusts returned Sunday, sparking the evacuation of Caddo, which is about 90 miles west of Fort Worth; the Palo Pinto County town of Strawn, which has a population of 764; and an area west of Highway 16 and south of Possum Kingdom Lake.

The Caddo fire is estimated to cover 2,200 acres. The fire near Strawn is about 1,000 acres.

"Extreme weather conditions – both high winds and extremely dry fuels – are increasing the spread of wildfire in the Big Country (north central Texas)," wrote Texas State Lone Star Incident Management Team spokesman Marq Webb.

On Sunday, Gov. Rick Perry sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking that he issue a Major Disaster Declaration for the state. According to Perry, 252 Texas counties are "presently threatened or impacted by wildfires."

The letter explains that 7,807 fires have torn through more than 1,527,714 acres, destroying 244 homes.

"Rescue efforts have saved 8,514 threatened homes," the letter adds.

The declaration would allow the state to receive federal money and aid for battling the fires and to help protect residents.

By Saturday, 31 homes were destroyed and 200 others were threatened by a wildfire burning out of control near Possum Kingdom Lake. Wind speed dropped Saturday, allowing firefighters to make some headway.

The Texas Forest Service said the fire, named PK West, had burned 10,000 acres as of Friday morning.

On Saturday, Texas Forest Service Spokesman Steve Deffibaugh said the Possum Kingdom West fire consumed 30,000 acres and merged with the 15,000-acre Hohertz Fire in Palo Pinto County.

Several Forest Service teams are fighting the fire, and they have asked for two National Guard Blackhawk helicopters to help with water drops.

Chopper 11 shot this video of the fire at about 1:30 Friday afternnoon:

The PK West fire is one of several burning across Texas.

About 120 miles west of Possum Kingdom Lake near Sweetwater, the Cooper Mountain Ranch fire has burned 50,000 acres.  The Forest Service says 60 m.p.h. winds in the area Thursday night drove the fire 15 miles in less than three hours.  The entire town of Rotan, population 1,400, had to be evacuated.

On Saturday, three gated communities on the east side of Possum Kingdom Lake were evacuated. Residents in the Sportsman World, Gaines Bend and The Cliffs communities were told to go stay in a hotel or with friends or family elsewhere. Highway 180 was also closed because of smoke.

A fire that broke out Friday in Eastland County killed a volunteer firefighter.  Gregory Simmons, 50, was a member of the Eastland Fire Department. Officials initially thought he died of smoke inhalation, but results of an autopsy released Saturday showed the fireman died of blunt force trauma.

On Sunday, city officials announced he died after being hit by a vehicle. It wasn't immediately certain whether that was a civilian's automobile or a fire truck.

Before moving to Eastland County and becoming a volunteer about a decade ago Simmons worked for years in Sachse with Fire Chief Doug Kendrick.

"You're always, always afraid to hear of a firefighter dying in the line of duty but someone as close as, we called him 'Pudge', as close as everybody was to Pudge, it just really hits home," the chief said sadly.

Simmons had moved west to the Dallas/Fort Worth area to run a business. "He left to go to work with his wife's family down there in Eastland," said Chief Kendrick. "And of course the first thing that he wanted to do is get back in the fire department and got on Eastland's volunteer fire department then."

Chief Kendrick said his city will do everything they can, "We're just really coming in circle out here in Sachse just so we can just wait to know how we can help the family."

Simmons is survived by his wife and two daughters.

The same fire that killed Simmons forced firefighters to evacuate the town of Gorman, about 100 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Burn bans are currently active in 195 Texas counties.