AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A cold front moving through central Texas has provided some relief to fire crews mopping up a collection of wildfires in the region.
Showers and thunderstorms were expected Sunday in the area where the Bastrop fire complex burned more than 34,000 acres and had more than 340 firefighters still on the lines snuffing out hot spots.
"It's certainly not going to hurt," said Mike Fisher, emergency management coordinator for Bastrop County. "But we're not getting any really meaningful rain out in the fire zone. It's just sprinkles here and there."
Although rainfall was not necessarily significant, the change of the weather helped out with cooler weather and higher humidity. Fisher predicted it would be another week before all of the fires were under control.
The fires also consumed more than 1,600 homes and caused two deaths. The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman reported Sunday that more than 2,500 residents had applied for emergency federal assistance, most of them from Bastrop County.
