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Residents return home as San Jacinto County wildfire reaches 65% containment
Residents are returning home as firefighters gain control over a major fire in San Jacinto County, which has burned over 2,400 acres.
CLEVELAND, Texas — Residents are returning to their homes as firefighters gain control of the Pauline Road Fire in San Jacinto County, which has burned more than 2,400 acres and is now 65% contained. The wildfire, which began as an approved prescribed burn, destroyed one home and two smaller structures.
Kacie Hardey, who evacuated her home on Wednesday, was relieved upon returning to find her house undamaged.
“As I was driving up our road, Lee Turner Road, I was like, it’s green. I was seeing butterflies. I could hear birds. And all I could think was, thank you God,” Hardey said.
Video footage from another homeowner showed how dangerously close the flames came to several properties.
Despite the successful containment efforts, questions remain about how an approved prescribed burn escaped control.
Officials confirmed the property owner had a plan that was approved by the Texas A&M Forest Service before initiating the burn. The Forest Service has directed questions about the ongoing investigation to the San Jacinto County District Attorney’s Office. The DA did not immediately respond to KHOU 11’s requests for comment.
Mike McNamara, a forester with F&W Forestry who oversees 320 acres of affected land, described the damage as heartbreaking.
“This hurts my feelings a lot, to see this,” McNamara said. “We lost 20 years worth of tree growth.”
McNamara showed KHOU 11 a deer hunting camp on the property that was also destroyed in the fire.
“This used to be the trailer house, and it melted down and it’s gone,” McNamara said.
McNamara acknowledged that while prescribed burns serve important purposes, they can become unpredictable.
“You do the best you can, but sometimes, the wind will change direction,” he explained. “It’s a wakeup call to make us all realize that in a moment, things can change. Something that was good can go bad in a hurry, which is what happened with this fire.”
Local residents like Hardey aren’t looking to assign blame but do want accountability.
“I don’t want there to be guilt and shame, but I hope that we can definitely hold people accountable and learn from it,” she said.
The Forest Service reports that fire crews have been checking for hot spots up to 100 feet beyond containment lines. According to officials, any remaining hot spots pose little to no risk of spreading further.