- Tuesday's wildfires scorched more than 500 acres in south Bexar County
- How big were this week's wildfires in Bexar County?
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How big were this week's wildfires in Bexar County?
The Duke and Calaveras fires burned dozens of structures south of San Antonio, on a day when the flames were fanned by whipping winds.
SAN ANTONIO — Lives were upended and homes reduced to rubble when a perfect storm of extreme winds and extremely dry conditions sparked a pair of fast-moving wildfires in far south and southeast Bexar County, challenging firefighters and the neighbors who rushed to help them.
The Calaveras and Duke fires burned a collective 528 acres in south Bexar County and north Atascosa County on Tuesday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service, the state’s lead agency in wildfire fighting and prevention. Those blazes were far from the only fires that sparked in Texas this week; the Twin Oryx Fire has burned 900 La Salle County acres since Tuesday.
The two San Antonio-area blazes were among the biggest to spark in the Lone Star State this week, although three fires further south — in La Salle, Duvall and San Patricio counties — have burned a combined 2,240 acres. As of Wednesday evening, none of those fires have been completely contained as of yet.
To reach 100% containment doesn’t necessarily mean the fire is completely extinguished, but that it’s surrounded by enough barriers or otherwise cut off from fuel sources so as to keep it from spreading further. The Duke Fire, 244 acres in size, reached 100% containment around 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The Calaveras Fire which spurred evacuations in the area of Interstate 37 and Southton Road, meanwhile, is at 90% containment as of Wednesday evening, the forest service says. It’s burned 284 acres.
PHOTOS: Fires rage, destroy Bexar County homes on day of high fire risk
How much was destroyed?
While there was no reported loss of life associated with the two fires, upwards of 40 structures in Bexar and Atascosa counties turned to ash.
The Texas A&M Forest Service reported that the Duke Fire burned 45 structures, including 13 homes, while the Calaveras Fire destroyed five structures, one of which was a home. The rest were categorized as “outbuildings.” The Duke Fire primarily impacted the area of Duke and Trumbo roads, about 22 miles south of downtown San Antonio.
The causes for both are still under investigation.
Aid from FEMA, meanwhile, is coming to those impacted by the Duke Fire, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday. Heavy machinery was seen working to clear debris that was still smoking nearly 24 hours later, mitigating any chance that flames anew could flare up.