Forest Fires In Texas Burn 85 Percent Of Cities

JAKARTA - Bushfires have destroyed 86 homes and much of the Texas small town of Carbon, the Dallas Morning News reported Saturday.

The tragedy occurred when blazes at four fire hotspots west of Dallas engulfed 22,000 hectares of land and killed a sheriff's deputy who was helping people evacuate.

The four fires, known as the Eastland Complex, started Wednesday, March 16, or Thursday in Eastland County, about 190km west of Dallas.

Thirty percent of the Eastland Complex fires were extinguished, the Texas A&M fire service said Saturday.

About 85 percent of the area in Carbon, a city of 255 people, was burned, the paper said.

The Dallas Morning News published images of houses turned into piles of rubble.

The Eastland Fire Service was unable to confirm any losses from the fire.

The blaze, spread by strong winds and scattered dry bush, engulfed most of the Carboniferous region within three hours, the paper said.

"Everywhere we looked, it looked like a bomb had gone off", said Wendy Forbus, a pastor, and business owner, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday, March 18 declared 11 counties in Texas as disaster areas.

He also ordered that flags be flown at half-mast across Eastland County in honor of Barbara Fenley, the deputy sheriff's victim who was killed in the disaster, Abbott's office said.

Fenley, as part of his job, on Thursday drove to check on an elderly resident, the Eastland County Sheriff told KTAB/KRBC television.

"As conditions worsened and visibility decreased due to the smoke, Sergeant Fenley came off the highway and was hit by the flames", Weger said.