Fast-moving wildfire damages or destroys 15-20 structures at the south end of Lake Whitney

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Fast-moving wildfire damages or destroys 15-20 structures at the south end of Lake Whitney

By Don Bolding
Tribune-Herald staff writer

Thursday September 8, 2011

A wildfire damaged or destroyed 15 to 20 structures and consumed about 300 acres of dense vegetation near State Highway 22 at the south end of Lake Whitney on Thursday night.

Hill County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hemrick said he did not know how many of the structures might have been homes. He said residences in the area are set on land plots of 3 to 4 acres each.

The blaze was 80 percent contained by about 8 p.m., he said. One firefighter was taken to a hospital with smoke inhalation.

Whitney Independent School District issued an alert late Thursday that schools would be closed due to power outages caused by the fire.

The blaze began about 3 p.m. from undetermined causes. Police closed Highway 22 and other approaches to the area for much of the afternoon.

Read the full story in Friday's Tribune-Herald.

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