Lost Oak Fire: 375 acres burned, 100 percent contained

Firefighters with North Hays County Fire Rescue (NHCFR) were among multiple agencies that responded to a fire west of Henly in Blanco County. “The Lost Oak Fire” started on property off of RR3232, the afternoon of Wednesday, August 19 and grew to 375 acres before being 100% contained. According to the incident commander for the Lost Oak Fire, the cause of the fire was due to someone burning a trash pile. A burn ban was in place at the time of the fire and remains in place.

The fire did threaten some homes, but there were no injuries reported and no homes were burned. Officials say a few uninhabited structures were damaged like a wood deck. NHCFR Fire Chief Scott Collard said the terrain did pose a challenge for firefighters.

“You couldn’t get right up to the fire because of the terrain and the thickness of the vegetation,” Collard said. “Our guys were just really kind of chasing it when it would pop out in a field or something, where they could get to it and just try to corral it.”

The lack of rain, of course, didn’t help either. “Those fuels (brush) that are out there don’t have a whole lot of available moisture in them. So, they’re not real resistant to fires right now,” Collard said.

The Texas A&M Forest Service was on the scene and assisted with aerial resources to combat the blaze. “In periods of high fire danger, we will contract out air support. So, we have aerial resources stationed in several parts of Texas,” Heather Gonzales said, a Public Information Officer with the Texas A&M Forest Service. One helicopter and three single engine air tankers dropped water and fire retardant over the Lost Oak Fire. To keep these pilots safe, at one point, a temporary flight restriction (which includes drones) was issued.

Firefighters fought the blaze for three days. On Saturday, August 22, The Texas A&M Forest Service reported the Lost Oak Fire was 100% contained.