texas fires

Terrible losses in Texas fires, over 1,000 houses lost so far...and this from Google News:

John Chapman's home on about 20 acres was only singed and had some smoke damage, but the vintage-car collector lost about 175 vehicles he kept in a garage or under pole barns. His losses included about a dozen Corvettes and a Shelby Cobra.
As ashes swirled and tree stumps still spit flames, the 70-year-old Chapman pointed out the melted remains of a 1966 Pontiac GTO, a '57 Chevrolet pickup and a 1947 Studebaker pickup, and said: "You can either laugh or you can cry. You might as well laugh."

Not as bad as losing lives or houses with lifetime of possession, but still really sad...

 

Very sad, ww will keep all in our prayers

 

my son is leaving oregon in a few hours to go down and fight fires with his company

 

ALL these fires are gettin' outta hand.

For the second day in a row leaving work - warehouse fire , then Bastrop up in flames, Camp Bullis brush fire, Randolph brush fire......literally every direction smoke as high as the sky goes up.

Hope everyone does good through this tragedy.

 

I'm about 25 miles away. its gotta suck too loose any car but 175 is too much for my mind to comprehend.

 

I'm in Corpus Christi, a couple hundred miles away from Bastrop, and last night I went outside to find smokey night skies and a very strong smell of grass fires. I thought is was just up the road and then I find out it's in Bastrop and the Houston area. The wind had carried it that far south.

 

Received this from our friends in Austin this am.

evrything is ok now. we were evacuated over 2 days ago. stayed with don & debbie. got back in at noon today. the fire got to about 1 mile away. burnt down 25 homes and damaged 40 others. ours was not the largest one in austin. the large one has consumed 25000 acres and over 500 homes and still has no containment. its is on the south east side of austin. we are on the north west side.

 

Thoughts and prayers going out to everyone down there. They said on the news tonight the burnt area is equal in size to the state of Connecticut, thats a lot of acreage.

 

That's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket.... Sad!

 

News reported 29 miles long and 20 miles wide at the widest point in Bastrop..which is 20 miles SE of Austin. Bad indeed.

 

I saw on the news from a helicopter the property totally engulfed in fire with classic cars burning down,how sad for them to louse everything they worked so hard for.

 

who cares about the cars, i know it sucks but life is more precious than a collection! i pray for you guys in texas, soo many days over 100 and then a fire storm. god speed everyone!

 

Had a fire less than a mile from my house last weekend kick up. The firemen did not think they were going to be able to contain it and were about to begin evacuation.....Miraculously, a 5 minute rain came from no where and slowed it enough they could put it out.....pray for them it works!

 

All but 50 of the 6000 acres of Bastrop State Park are gone. The Park employees were able to save most of the WPA built stone buildings. Some of these people lost their houses while saving State owned property.

 

I really wish that we could send you some of our rain right now---it'd do you a lot more good than it is us.

 

We will pray for rain for Texas. Lots of rain. And for the young lady and her child who were lost to the fire.

 

I'm doing a rain dance for everyone down there.

 

post pics

 

A year long drought and no rain in sight. Coming into the windy winter months I'm afraid this is just the beginning. The Pedernales One fire swept behind me.
This is looking 35 miles to the East.

 

Has anybody heard from Dreadybear? he started a thread this last week end about tearing his car down for paint and then showed a picture of smoke on the horizon... Nothing since. It's been bugging me since. I don't know all you guys personally, but you all have to know that we get concerned out here in H.A.M.B. land. I'll be keeping a good thought.

 

We need rain like it's going out of style!!! Everything down here is bone dry as most places haven't seen rain in over 125 days. . .the high heat and wind isn't helping at all.

 

Mr. Chapman sounds like a well-grounded car lover with his priorities in the right place. I sympathize for him, but admire him. I hope I would take that kind of loss with as much stoicism and dignity.

 

I'm an independent insurance adjuster and the report that the catastrophe companies are sending out has residential building loss at 1600+ and estimate that number could double before it is contained. I'm not sure where they pull their info from. It's a very sad situation for all involved. I just pray that it gets better before it gets worse. I also hope that the people affected by this understand the unpredictability of wild fires and realize that their home or nothing in it is worth their life or the lives of their families. Don't try to be heroes! That's the fire fighter's job and they're damn good at it.

 

Tell him from those of us that are living this tragedy. THANK You from the bottom of our HEARTS