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Texas’ Mesquite Heat Fire: Photos capture devastation as blaze grows to 5,000 acres

TAYLOR COUNTY, Texas — Texas’ Mesquite Heat Fire has grown to about 5,000 acres since the blaze began Tuesday in Taylor County, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported early Thursday. The wildfire, which has destroyed at least 10 homes and prompted evacuations, is just 5% contained, according to the Abilene Reporter-News.

There is potential for large wildfires to occur in the Western/Eastern Hill Country and Rolling Plains through Friday including areas near Childress, Vernon, Abilene, Brownwood, Lampasas, San Angelo, Ozona and Fredericksburg. Any new fires in grass and brush vegetation will likely be resistant to control, as underlying drought and critically to extremely dry vegetation combine with 100-degree temperatures and periods of elevated to critical fire weather. Yesterday, Texas A&M Forest Service fire resources responded to four wildfires that burned 10,610 acres across the state. Crews also continued work on carryover fires and responded to two fires that rekindled and moved across containment lines. Several wildfires exhibited extreme fire behavior caused by dry live and dead vegetation, increased wind speeds and triple digit temperatures. Fire crews experienced high resistance to control with active crown fire in juniper and mesquite vegetation, where the fire transitions from the surface to the canopy. Read more: https://bit.ly/39uXCyI. For more information and resources, visit https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/CurrentSituation/. 🎥 Extreme fire behavior observed on the Mesquite Heat Fire in Taylor County on May 17, 2022. Video courtesy of B. Henry/TAMFS.

Posted by Lone Star State Incident Management Team - Texas A&M Forest Service on Wednesday, May 18, 2022

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Wildlife officials, first responders, reporters and residents are sharing photos of the devastation on social media. Here are some of those images:

1. Lone Star State Incident Management Team – Texas A&M Forest Service, Facebook

Wildfire Update - May 18, 2022 9:00 pm Texas A&M Forest Service and Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS)...

Posted by Lone Star State Incident Management Team - Texas A&M Forest Service on Wednesday, May 18, 2022

2. Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Facebook

Pictures from around the area of the fire.

Posted by Taylor County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, May 18, 2022

3. @LaurenSierraTV, Twitter

4. @MichaelBeardWX, Twitter

5. Lone Star State Incident Management Team – Texas A&M Forest Service, Facebook

Texas A&M Forest Service has raised the State Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to Level 5 (PL 5) due to a significant...

Posted by Lone Star State Incident Management Team - Texas A&M Forest Service on Wednesday, May 18, 2022

6. @hollaleigh, Instagram

7. @Adriana_fwt, Twitter


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