Bastrop Wildfire Facts
Posted by James Headrick on Mar 7, 2012 in Featured, General | 0 comments
While out in Bastrop recently for a pre-production meeting and research sessions, I found out alot about the impacts beyond just the loses of homes. The fires started on September 4th, 2011 and were declared fully contained on October 10, 2011. Three separate fires merged into the one large fire that caused so much destruction.
- Over 1 million trees burned – most will never recover from the damage
- The fire spread out over 34,000 acres within the county of Bastrop
- 95% of the Bastrop State Park was destroyed. All of the historic buildings in the park were saved by the parks fire fighting crew
- Over 1,600 homes were destroyed
- Gas and electric services were cut off to the affected areas for over two weeks
- “Root ball fires” were an issue once the major fire was extinguished. The roots of many trees smoldered for several weeks, causing frequent flare-ups.
- Home owners had no way of knowing if their home was still standing, until they were allowed to return
- The recovery process may take more than seven years before Bastrop county returns to a “normal” state.
- If you drive around the county, you’ll see some houses totally untouched, while all thats left of homes nearby are piles of debris or empty slabs. The fires were so hot that they created their own wind patters in the affected areas causing the fires to totally ”skip” areas.
While out in Bastrop recently for a pre-production meeting and research sessions, I found out alot about the impacts beyond just the loses of homes. The fires started on September 4th, 2011 and were declared fully contained on October 10, 2011. Three separate fires merged into the one large fire that caused so much destruction.