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Firefighters battle raging Texas blazes

POOLVILLE, Texas, Feb. 22 -- Federal, state and local fire companies continued Thursday night to battle grass fires that consumed tens of thousands of acres in counties across Texas, including a mammoth fire that consumed some 25,000 acres of range land west of Fort Worth. The fire, one of the largest in the state's history, was about 75 percent contained Thursday evening, fire officials said. Firefighters hoped to completely extinguish the blaze, which ravaged parts of Parker, Wise, and Jack counties, by early Friday. Gov. George W. Bush issued an emergency request asking President Clinton to declare the entire state of Texas a disaster area due to heat and drought conditions that have created an extreme fire hazard in all 254 counties. Texas has lost more acreage to fires in the past 45 days than in all of 1995, the governor's office said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized emergency funds to reimburse state and local agencies for the cost of fighting the massive fire west of Fort Worth. Bush flew over more than 40 square miles of scorched land late Thursday afternoon. 'It's an absolute disaster,' Bush said. 'It is not only a physical disaster, but it's a human disaster. All it requires is for one to look in the eyes of people who's homes were totally destroyed. I've never seen anything like it. It could take up to 10 days for approval of Bush's request for federal disaster aid to help replace homes and property lost in the fires.

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'Everything being dry like it was, it just blew through here like a blow torch,' said P.R. Page, a Parker County retiree who lost his home and all his possessions. Temperatures across the state rose into the 90s Thursday and winds up to 30 mph frustrated firefighters across the state. Bush implemented a state emergency management plan, mobilizing a newly created firefighting task force to battle the grass fires. The governor authorized the creation of five firefighting task forces, each consisting of up to 25 professional and volunteer firefighters. A 2,500-acre forest fire continued to burn Thursday in the Angelina National Forest in East Texas, the Department of Public Safety's Division of Emergency Management said in a statement. Fire crews from the state and federal forest services joined firefighters from other states in battling that blaze. Due to the remote location, firefighters were relying mainly on hand tools, like axes and shovels. The DPS report said a 3,000- to 4,000-acre fire had been contained in Clay and Henrietta counties in far north Texas, near Wichita Falls. An 800-acre fire in Eastland County in west central Texas had been contained, but a 2,000-acre blaze in another part of the county was still burning out of control, as was a 2,000-acre fire in neighboring Callahan County. Elsewhere in west-central Texas, a 2,500-acre blaze in Shackleford County was contained, and so was 1,200-acre fire in Runnels County. Smaller fires in Palo Pinto and Brown counties were also under control. In central Texas, firefighters were battled a 200-acre blaze in McCullough County and smaller fires in Llano and Williamson counties. DPS reported another fire in Hill County but had no estimate as to its size. In East Texas, a small fire in Jasper County was contained. And in northeast Texas, firefighters were battling a fire of unknown size in Upshur County. Firefighters were finally able to bring a large portion of the fire in Parker, Wise and Jack counties under control thanks to the help of the U.S. Forest Service, which dispatched four airplanes from Fort Smith, Ark. The planes dumped 5,000-gallon loads of chemical flame retardent ahead of the fire line. The chemicals cooled the grass and brush, and slowed the advancing fire enough for firefighters to form a perimeter and extinguish large areas of the blaze. Several hot spots were still flaring up late Thursday evening, but they were being controlled. The blaze burned at least 80 structures, mostly homes. Only minor injuries were reported. Parker County Fire Marshal Jeff Edwards said firefighters with 40 years experience called it the biggest blaze they had seen in the county. The Texas National Guard sent Blackhawk helicopters to assist firefighting efforts in the area. Edwards said the Blackhawks could each carry 350 gallons of water per run. Steve Kerr, spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said firefighters were also battling fatigue. 'Another problem in the heat is recycling your firefighters, because they get heat exhausted, because inside the fire gear it can get up to 105 degrees,' Kerr said. 'Fire coordinators are looking for heat exhaustion.' With below normal rainfall in the state, conditions were right for the smallest spark to set off a conflagration. One fire started when the wheels of passing freight train threw off sparks that ignited grass along the tracks. Two teens were being investigated for suspected arson in another fire, and in another case, a welder working in a field ignited a blaze. Edwards said the large fire west of Fort Worth may have been started by someone violating the recently imposed outdoor burning ban. 'Something was definitely burning in the back yard,' Edwards said. 'If they were burning trash, they've displaced 50 people and destroyed 25,000 acres. It's heartbreaking, the loss.'

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