STORY: Fast-spreading wildfire forces evacuation in U.S. Texas
DATELINE: Sept. 3, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:36
LOCATION: HOUSTON, U.S.
CATEGORY: OTHERS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of black smoke billowing from a wildfire in a wooded area in north of Huntsville, Walker County, Texas
2. various of the Huntsville area of Walker County, Texas shrouded in smog
3. various of the rescue efforts 
4. SOUNDBITE (English): DANIEL PATTERSON, Public information officer with Texas A&M Forest Service

STORYLINE:

A fast-spreading wildfire near Huntsville, east Texas, triggered evacuation and a highway closure on Friday night, according to the emergency authorities.

No injuries or property damage have been reported so far.

Texas A&M Forest Service announced on social media it was responding to a request for assistance in Walker County on the "Game Preserve Fire," an estimated 100 acres (0.4 square km), at 4:21 p.m. local time (2121 GMT).

Around 9:30 p.m. (0230 GMT Saturday), the service updated that the fire had grown to an estimated 1,200 acres (4.85 square km) and was about 10 percent contained.

The Walker County Office of Emergency Management asked everyone within three miles (4.83 km) of Lost Indian Camp Road to evacuate and announced the 6.5 mile (10.5 km) stretch of highway FM247 was closed both lanes from Pinedale Road to FM2989.

More than a dozen active wildfires were monitored by the Texas Forest Service on Friday night, according to its website. Local media warned the risk of wildfires was expected to remain high through the U.S. Labor Day weekend.

"Persistent triple-digit temperatures and minimal rainfall over the past two months have resulted in extremely dry vegetation across the state, which increases the likelihood of dangerous wildfires," said the forest service.

SOUNDBITE (English): DANIEL PATTERSON, Public information officer with Texas A&M Forest Service
"This is the game preserve fire here in Walker County, Texas, currently at 3,800 acres and 20 percent contained. We have multiple structures that are threatened, lots of aircraft working on the fire dropping water and retardant. Both airplanes and helicopters that we can see flying overhead here, firefighters on the ground and bulldozers, so there is a full effort to control the fire and protect public safety. Cooperation here in unified command between the local, the state and even some federal U.S. resources that are here." 

Huntsville, the county seat of Walker County, is located around 70 miles (113 km) north of Houston, the largest city in the U.S. state of Texas.

Since June 28, the Texas A&M Forest Service and local fire departments have responded to over 2,125 wildfires burning more than 89,700 acres (363 square km), according to the state governor's office.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Houston, U.S.
(XHTV)