Last year, firefighters in Texas responded to 6,534 wildfires across the state.
This number is a little over half the wildfires Texas firefighters responded to in 2022. The over 6,500 wildfires in 2023 burned 204,441 acres across Texas, less than one-third of the 645,000 burned the year prior, per KXAN.
Recalling an Oak Grove fire in Hays County that began on August 5, 2023, South Hays Fire Chief Robert Simonson remembers feeling like Mother Nature was overwhelming his team.
“The difficult thing was it just seemed like we’d get ahead, and the wind would change. We’d get ahead, and the terrain would change,” Simonson said. “It just seemed like for the first couple of hours, we were chasing our tails.”
Simonson said he watched the wildfire approaching, climbing the hill in rural San Marcos before moving to the next town. The fire destroyed vehicles and at least one home, according to officials from the county.
Simonson added that he and his volunteer fire department were fortunate to have had help from other firefighters, including some from Colorado.
Blackhawk helicopters dropped buckets over flareups and hotspots to contain the blaze, which took five days to extinguish.
Central Texas had 59 wildfires by the end of October 2023. Some, like the Moore Peak fire, which spanned 700 acres in Llano County, occurred amid record summer heat in the region.
The Texas A&M Forest Service says it provided over $28 million in funding in 2023 to agencies to support training, equipment, and emergency assistance. It also said it gave an additional $1.6 million worth of equipment to volunteer fire departments.
