A North Texas wildfire gained strength over the weekend, destroying nearly 12,000 acres of land in Palo Pinto County; meanwhile, another fire damaged seven homes under construction in McKinney.
The wildfire in Palo Pinto, known as the Dempsey Fire, began on Thursday in a rural region six miles west of Mineral Wells. It had burned roughly 11,600 acres of mostly ranch land by Sunday and was only 27% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
“We did conduct several back burn operations of areas of unburnt fuel,” said Stuart Morris with the Texas A&M Forest Service. “The weather conditions were favorable for that. They were able to remove pockets of unburnt vegetation by controlled burning, and so that’s really gonna go a long way as far as improving our containment.”
Some families in Graford were evacuated from their homes, according to Fox 4 News. Meanwhile, firefighters remained working through Sunday to suppress the fire.
In a Facebook post, the Palo Pinto County Sheriff’s Office asked people to stay clear of the area as fire crews worked to contain the fire. It is unclear if anyone was injured in the fire, and its cause is unknown.
A separate fire broke out around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the northwestern area of McKinney near County Roads 123 and 161.
Seven unoccupied homes were severely damaged due to the flames or burned to the ground, and one occupied home suffered quickly extinguished flames, according to the McKinney Fire Department. No injuries were reported.
Sasidhar Punna, a neighborhood resident, was devastated as the blaze swallowed the fence and patio in his backyard.
“I had my first kid. I bought this home for him, and I wanted to have a nice feeling for him in this house,” said Punna to NBC DFW. “When I saw my home burning in flames, I completely burst into tears.”
He explained that he might be unable to live at his residence for at least a few months.
The cause of the McKinney fire was still under investigation as of Sunday.