A fast-moving brush fire temporarily closed Interstate 10 in Texas on Sunday afternoon and chased residents from an RV park in Kendall County before they could move their rigs to safety.
Several RVs and facilities were destroyed before the blaze was contained around nightfall, according to a report in mySanAntonio.
The wind-stoked fire moved swiftly into the Top of the Hill RV Resort, igniting propane tanks and ammunition stored in the roughly 70 travel trailers and recreational vehicles.
“We couldn’t hardly breathe due to the black smoke,” said Walt Lowell, 61, as he waited nearby at Po-Po Family Restaurant, the unofficial evacuation center, for permission to return to inspect the damage. “You could hear stuff blowing up left and right.”
Preliminary damage assessments indicated that six or seven RVs in the 103-site campground were destroyed, as well as three cars and a motorcycle, plus the RV park’s clubhouse, laundry room, and pavilion.
The fire danger was extreme Sunday, with strong winds and temperatures in the triple digits. The National Weather Service recorded 103 degrees in San Antonio, matching the record, set in 1918. Temperatures have hit 100 or higher since Tuesday. Low 90s are normal for June.
The wildfire is one of many that have spread through drought-stricken Texas since fire season began the middle of November. The Texas Forest Service has recorded 12,189 fires that have burned 3,012,876 acres--one-million acres more than the previous record set in 2006, forest service officials said.
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