After two days of waiting Steiner Ranch residents finally got to return to their neighborhood Tuesday. Two dozen families found nothing left after a fire that investigators say may have been caused by sparking power lines. That fire destroyed 24 homes and damaged 30 more. But hundreds more were saved — some due to the kindness of others.
via Steiner Ranch evacuees return to their homes and assess damage | kvue.com Austin.
I’ve been reading reports all evening, and it appears this fire was caused some electrical lines.
All day today, starting about noon, I had customers come into the store needing generators and air filters. Air filters to help take the smoke and smell out of the inside air. The better the air filter, the more it’ll scrub the air in your system. Of course, nothing will totally seal off your house, but it’ll take care of the vast majority of smells.
Talking with customers, most were simply thankful to have a home to go back to, where as many, many people are homeless. I’ve not heard from a co-worker yet about how they did, if their house survived or not. I do know many of my co-workers had their houses burn, either in Steiner Ranch or out south in Bastrop.
The fires here in this area are so big, you can spot them in satellite photos. Seriously…
When I was a kid, my father helped run the Hudson Bend VFD out there. There were several dry summers when he’d be called off to fight brush fires, some on that very same piece of land, and come back hours later smelling like a bad barbeque.
Unlike back then, when a fire was fairly easily contained by creating fire breaks or other methods, when an area that is highly developed like Steiner Ranch, you simply can’t contain a fast moving fire. Too many houses in the way.
All of this is a result of the driest and hottest summer on record. Let’s all just hope & pray (to the deity of your choice) for a direct hit by a tropical storm or three in the next month. Otherwise, this drought will continue for possibly another year.
