Over 1,500 acres burned as firefighters battle growing wildfire in Palo Pinto County

Firefighters continued their battle against a wildfire in Palo Pinto County, which has doubled in size since Thursday and was burning more than 1,500 acres Friday afternoon.

Persistent dry air and low humidity will remain over the weekend, and dry vegetation in North, Central and East Texas will support wildfire activity, according to officials with the Texas A&M Forest Service.

As of Friday afternoon, the blaze, dubbed by the forest service as the Lazy Fire, had 35 percent containment.

In the most recent update, the fire was moving to the west. Crews are building a fireline. There are no evacuations in place.

On Thursday night, authorities shut down Texas 16 at Texas 180 because of the brush fire. Thick juniper has been fueling the blaze.

The wildfire originated south of Possum Kingdom Lake and Texas 16, according to the forest service. The fire was moving west and firefighters were working to build a fire line to contain the spread.

The Possum Kingdom East Volunteer Fire Department announced earlier in the day Thursday that a ranch in the area — which is under drought conditions — was conducting a controlled burn and told people not to be worried about the smoke coming from the area.

But that fire at the Set Ranch got out of control and spread sometime between noon and 2:30 p.m.

Authorities told WFAA-TV that at least six homes were threatened but not damaged by the fire as of early Thursday evening.

The Rancher Navy, which helps evacuate animals during hazardous situations, told WFAA that the group evacuated more than 100 horses from Rockin’ S Ranch, which is next to the Set Ranch.

Morgan Broome of the Rancher Navy told WFAA that a woman who works on a ranch was injured in an evacuation and airlifted to a Fort Worth hospital but is expected to be OK