Highway 80 wildfire in Abilene prompted evacuations, burned about 50 acres

Laura Gutschke, Abilene Reporter-News
·3 min read

A wildfire burned about 50 acres Thursday in west Abilene, prompting the temporary closing of Highway 80 and forcing evacuations.

No injuries or lost structures were reported, according to a Abilene Fire Department news release Friday morning. Numerous powerline poles were damaged.

An Abilene Fire Department fire marshal directs traffic to turn around on South First Street at the Old Highway 80 intersection Thursday. The grass fire jumped South First Street and threatened a mobile home park, which was evacuated.
An Abilene Fire Department fire marshal directs traffic to turn around on South First Street at the Old Highway 80 intersection Thursday. The grass fire jumped South First Street and threatened a mobile home park, which was evacuated.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the release said.

High winds

The fire grew quickly after first reports of flames at about 4:50 p.m. near Highway 80 and Bumpergate Road. The wildfire crossed the highway median, energized by sustained by high winds 30 to 40 mph, gusting up to 56 mph during the afternoon, according to National Weather Service data.

Black smoked filled the air as fires burned near Abilene Speedway south of the highway and the railroad tracks to the north near Interstate 20.

AFD dispatched eight engines, five brush trucks, one ladder truck, a large support vehicle called the AMBUS from the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force, 17 additional firefighters and six support personnel.

Officers with the Abilene Police Department and Taylor County Sheriff's Office redirected vehicle traffic, and heavy equipment from Taylor County was used to create fire break lines.

Fire crews from Dyess Air Force Base and the Merkel and Tye volunteer fire departments also assisted in trying to protect property and contain fire extensions.

The city of Abilene activated the emergency command center. About 6 p.m., the city issued a CodeRed evacuation alert to residents in a two-mile area south of Highway 80 to north of Military Drive and west of Arnold Boulevard. Residents were allowed to return home about two hours later.

Residents of a mobile home park near Chapel Hill Road could be seen loading up vehicles and leaving the area. An Abilene police officer drove through the neighborhood, using the vehicle's speaker system to alert residents to evacuate.

A woman waits for her younger companions to finish retrieving belongings from their home as an Abilene police officer checks on other people evacuating the Continental Villa mobile home park. A quickly-moving grass fire west of town was closing on the park, forcing the evacuation.
A woman waits for her younger companions to finish retrieving belongings from their home as an Abilene police officer checks on other people evacuating the Continental Villa mobile home park. A quickly-moving grass fire west of town was closing on the park, forcing the evacuation.

The Texas A&M Forest Service was unable to respond to the city's request for assistance because ground assets were deployed to major wildfires in the area. The high winds grounded the Forest Service airplanes and other air assets, according to scanner traffic.

By about 9:30 p.m., according to scanner traffic, fire crews were focusing on containment and monitoring for flair-ups. Some crews remained on the scene throughout the night.

Preceding fires

Prior to the Highway 80 fire, AFD responded to three residential fires in north Abilene in less than an hour.

Firefighters were dispatched about 2:30 p.m. to North 18th and Mesquite streets for a downed powerline that had caught a lot and fence on fire. They extinguished the flames in a few minutes.

Residents of Chapel Hill mobile home park west of Abilene were being evacuated because of a large wildfire on both sides of Old Highway 80.
Residents of Chapel Hill mobile home park west of Abilene were being evacuated because of a large wildfire on both sides of Old Highway 80.

About 10 minutes later, a fire was reported in the 1500 block of North 19th Street. Fire crews saw smoke and flames coming from a single-story residence at the back of the main residence. The damages, mostly on the exterior, totaled about $10,000, according to an AFD news release.

The third fire occurred about 3:15 p.m. in the 2700 block of Old Anson Road. Smoke and fire at a metal building were visible when fire crews arrived. They took several minutes to extinguished the fire, which caused an estimated $20,000 in damages, according to an AFD news release.

Laura Gutschke is a general assignment reporter and food columnist and manages online content for the Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Highway 80 wildfire prompted evacuations, burned about 50 acres