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Wildfire in San Jacinto Co. remains at 2,000 acres, 20% contained; evacuations in place | Shelters, school closings and more

The fire quickly spread with high wind and low humidity.
SAN JACINTO COUNTY, Texas — An estimated 2,000 acres are burning in a wildfire in San Jacinto County near the Montgomery County line, prompting evacuations and a school district to close. High wind and low humidity provided the fuel the fire needed to quickly spread.
According to an update from Texas A&M Forest Service at 9 a.m. Thursday, the Pauline Road Fire in San Jacinto County remains 2,000 acres and 20% contained between Conroe and Cleveland
Overnight, fire behavior diminished, allowing firefighters and dozer crews to expand containment efforts. Crews are continuing to build fire lines around the perimeter to slow the fire’s spread.
Evacuations
Around 900 homes are affected by evacuations, according to Montgomery County officials. They added that those who have not evacuated yet should do so this morning. The Red Flag Warning conditions could lead to a dangerous situation in the afternoon.
As of 9 a.m., there are no changes to evacuation orders, but residents must remain out of affected areas.
- At around midnight, The Montgomery County OEM issued new evacuations for people in the following locations: Holstein Dr., Hereford Way, Cross Cut, Rock Pigeon, Boar’s Run, Grey Goose, Brown Bear, Duroc Ct., Big Beaver, Blue Teal, Grant Lake Circle, N. Duck Creek north of Blue Teal
- As of 8:15 p.m., there were evacuations in place for the following roads in San Jacinto County: Pauline Road, Lee Turner Road, Kirby Road, Big Buck Road, Hereford Way and Blue Teal Road in San Jacinto County.
Montgomery County officials were telling residents south and west of Peach Creek that they needed to be prepared to evacuate if the fire crossed the creek. There are voluntary evacuations for residents in the Doru Drive and Big Buck Drive areas.

Shelters
Cleveland ISD closed
Cleveland ISD posted a message late Wednesday night, saying that due to the ongoing Pauline Road fires and expected conditions, the district will be closed on Thursday, March 20.
Livestock evacuated
Livestock is being evacuated from areas impacted by the fire. Residents are being told that if they need a safe place for animals, they can take them to Caney Creek Cowboy Church. It’s at 17703 Nonesuch Road in Conroe.
Fighting the fire
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough gave an update just before 9 a.m. Thursday saying that no structures have been damaged thanks to the fire crews protecting them.
Keough said that air tankers, dozers, and additional firefighters will continue containment efforts. High winds, low humidity, and warmer temperatures will make firefighting difficult.
A Red Flag Warning is in effect due to dangerous fire conditions.
“We are blessed with the best and the men and women of our fire departments and law enforcement agencies proved it yesterday and overnight,” the county judge said. “They worked tirelessly to assist residents evacuate, protect their homes and wrangle cattle and horses to safety.”
Please say a prayer for all those affected by this fire and for the men and women first responders working to keep us safe.
At this point, we don’t know how the fire started, but there is a continuing fire danger because of the high winds and low humidity.
Multiple agencies are on the scene battling the fire from the air and trying to contain it on the ground.
“Air operations will be dropping water. They’ll be taking water from overhead and dropping water,” Millsaps said. “The other way to fight fire in this case is to get a line around it. So that’s what the dozers are for. They’ll be going around and drawing protection lines around this to try to contain this fire. And so those are the two options that we’re using at this time. The firefighters on the ground are basically here to ensure those structures are not damaged in this process, and they are protecting those structures if fire encroaches on them, they’ll protect those structures.”
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, winds were gusting between 22 and 25 miles per hour from the northwest, according to KHOU 11 meteorologist Kim Castro. That was pushing smoke toward Cleveland and Liberty County. Drivers on Interstate 69 should expect reduced visibility from the smoky haze.
Millsaps expects crews to be on the scene for quite a while.
“We’re going to continue to be battling this blaze well into the night with the winds,” Millsaps said. “However, the relative humidity is expected to rise every hour through the evening. That will assist us as the fire behavior will start to diminish and we’ll be able to get a better handle on it.”
According to the San Jacinto County Office of Emergency Management, a controlled burn was being performed by a landowner. They said it was supposed to be a 60-acre fire. It’s unclear if that’s the fire that sparked the wildfire.
The fire was so strong that the heat signal was picked up on radar and satellite imagery.
This is a breaking story. As soon as we have more information, we’ll post it here. You can also download the KHOU 11 app for updates as we get them.