'Good progress' cited as Rolling Pines fire in Bastrop County remains 70% contained

The 812-acre Rolling Pines Fire, which ignited Tuesday afternoon and caused at least 250 families to flee from their homes in central Bastrop County after officials said a prescribed burn in Bastrop State Park grew out of control, was not very active Friday and remained 70% contained.

“Crews are continuing to make good progress securing the containment lines,” the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management said Friday afternoon. “Very low fire behavior throughout the area.”

Officials said a small airplane surveying the fire Friday reported that the containment lines — swaths of land that firefighters bulldoze to remove dry, combustible fuels — were holding strong and there was almost no visible smoke.

Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape told the Statesman on Friday that the fire management team’s strategy going into the weekend is to let the fire burn itself out within its footprint and to maintain security around the fire’s perimeter.

“We’re just going to ride it out here and keep it buttoned down, and just let nature take care of itself,” he said, adding that this strategy is typical of fire management because fire fuels need to be consumed.

Earlier: Evacuations underway near Bastrop as 'very active fire' is 0% contained

What caused the Rolling Pines fire?

Though an official cause of the fire has not been determined, state and local officials have said it appears a planned 150-acre prescribed burn in Bastrop State Park grew out of control after strong wind gusts blew embers from the fire and ignited new blazes.

Though there was not a county burn ban in place Tuesday, the Texas A&M Forest Service put out a forecast showing high fire danger for Bastrop County that day.

In response to residents’ concern on social media about the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department conducting a prescribed burn on Tuesday despite an elevated risk for wildfires due to wind gusts ranging between 30 to 40 mph, the department said it had a large crew of trained and certified wildland firefighters and three burn bosses onsite at the planned burn, and that the environmental prescriptions necessary for a burn had been met.

On Friday, Pape said in a statement that he has made it clear to the Parks and Wildlife Department that the use of controlled burns in the county must never again threaten residents’ lives or property.

“I have asked Texas Parks and Wildlife for a full accounting of what happened, what went wrong, what mistakes were made, what has been learned, and how what has been learned will be used to better protect the lives and property of our residents in the future,” he said.

Earlier: Evacuees allowed home after Rolling Pines fire contained

Pape told the Statesman that Carter Smith, executive director of Texas Parks and Wildlife, has been receptive to his message.

Smith “was heartbroken that this fire got out of hand in the first place,” Pape said. “He just apologized over and over about it, and said they were going to dig deep and find out what happened and why it happened. He said this should not happen in these urban interface fires.

“I’m confident that he will do what he said he will do. Texas Parks and Wildlife is a fine organization and they’ve been a great partner organization to us over the years. Bastrop State Park and Buescher State Park have been sort of the jewels of our county for decades, and they know the value of the forest.”

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department carries out prescribed burns in public lands and does not ask local governments for permission to conduct them, Pape said. “As a state agency, they conduct these events under the direction of a fire boss using national standards for prescribed burns,” he said.

“We’re grateful to God that there were no serious injuries, no homes were lost, that people were not out of their houses for more than 24 hours and that they were able to return to take care of their pets and plants and pipes and get ready for the next round of winter weather” that rolled through Bastrop County on Wednesday night, dropping temperatures below freezing.

“I’m so thankful for the firefighters, our (Emergency Services District) No. 2 and (Bastrop) Fire Department responded immediately and were on the scene and were defending homes within a few minutes from when the fire was announced,” Pape said. “Everybody was extraordinary in their response.

“This is the way a forest fire needs to be dealt with — you knock it down hard immediately and you protect homes and peoples’ lives. So, this one turned out the way we’d like for all of them to turn out. I’m just thankful for everybody’s dedication.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Rolling Pines fire in Bastrop County remains 70% contained