MONDAY MORNING UPDATE:
The "Smoke Rider Fire" is now 100 percent contained. Approximately 1,210 acres have burned.
SUNDAY EVENING UPDATE:
State officials say the "Smoke Rider Fire" at the Hays and Blanco County line is now 95 percent contained. Approximately 1,210 acres have burned.
SATURDAY EVENING UPDATE:
State officials say the "Smoke Rider Fire" at the Hays and Blanco County line is now 90 percent contained. Approximately 1,210 acres have burned. Firefighters continue to patrol and mop up across the fire area.
THURSDAY EVENING UPDATE:
State officials say the "Smoke Rider Fire" at the Hays and Blanco County line is now 80 percent contained. Approximately 1,210 acres have burned. Crews continue to observe smoke across the area as vegetation to the interior to containment lines continue to burn. Firefighters are engaged in mop up and working to improve lines.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:
State officials say the "Smoke Rider Fire" at the Hays and Blanco County line is now 70 percent contained. Approximately 1,200 acres have burned.
This developing story will be updated.
=================
ORGINAL STORY:
Firefighters in Hays and Blanco counties are battling the Smoke Rider Fire in triple-digit temperatures, which is eight hundred acres and 50 percent contained.
The wind was a little stronger Wednesday, and the Forest Service says the air is a little drier -- but firefighters stopped the forward progress of the fire and have let people who evacuated Tuesday back in, and that includes some furry four-legged neighbors who were evacuated in a hurry. “As scary as it was, they acted quickly,” said Leslie Hutson, the general manager of Paws Shelter of Central Texas on Highway 290.
All the animals are back at the shelter now. It was a group effort to get all fifty-one animals evacuated Tuesday. “It was fast moving; it was pretty close, so we started loading up the vans with crates in preparations to get all the dogs out and we realized hey we need to move,” Hutson said.
That includes the three-year-old, very thin German shepherd Dewey -- who had to go to a veterinarian because the shelter is nursing him back to health. He and all the other animals were brought back Wednesday morning.
Everyone in the neighborhood around 290 and RR 165 in Dripping Springs came back, in fact. “As far as we know right now there are no evacuees, all folks are back at those structures,” TAMU Forest Service spokesperson Walter Flocke told us.
The Texas A&M Forest Service reported Wednesday afternoon that firefighters have the Smoke Rider Fire 50 percent contained, but they are being cautious. “We really need to monitor them closely because the winds are actually stronger than they were yesterday,” Flocke said.
There has been lots of air support -- including the DC10 air tanker that has dumped fire retardant ahead of the flames. “We were able to top forward progression once it crossed 290, utilizing aircraft,” Flocke said.
Meantime the Paws shelter is back open for business – all of the animals, including Dewey, is up for adoption. “We welcome everybody to come back out,” Hutson said. “We have plenty of dogs and cats that need to be adopted.”
The TAMU Forest Service says right now the cause of the fire is under investigation -- the lead agency on that is the Blanco County fire marshal