Spring Fire Department and Klein Fire Department crews are battling the Ross Fire, an 85,000-acre blaze burning through Palo Pinto County about 100 miles west of Dallas.
The Spring Fire Department announced the joint deployment Sunday, Aug. 30, saying its firefighters had teamed up with Klein Fire Department colleagues at the fire. The Texas A&M Forest Service reported Monday, Aug. 31, that the Ross Fire had reached 85,303 acres and was 31% contained.
The fire started the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 24, under elevated fire conditions and has since spread into Jack County. A Texas A&M Forest Service damage assessment confirmed 157 structures destroyed, including 18 residences, and 140 structures damaged.
No deaths or injuries have been reported, according to the Dallas Morning News. Firefighters saved 453 structures.
Klein Fire Chief Jason Catrambone deployed to support command operations in an overhead position, the Houston Chronicle reported. Engine 303, staffed with two Klein firefighters and two Spring firefighters, is helping with response and recovery efforts on the ground.
The deployment comes days after Spring Fire's wildland crew returned from the Corky Fire on Aug. 29. Klein Fire Department said in a Facebook post that the Ross Fire was not the first time the department had helped another part of Texas this month, noting a prior deployment to Brownwood.
The Ross Fire is the third-largest wildfire ever recorded in North Texas, behind the 126,734-acre Possum Kingdom Complex fire in 2011 and the Big Country fire, which burned about 366,000 acres in 1988, the Dallas Morning News reported.
"We've thrown everything at this, and we're still having minimal effect," Palo Pinto County Emergency Services District 1 Fire Chief Danny Watkins said Aug. 25, when the fire was still in its early days, according to Spectrum News.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 26 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Ross Fire, the Texas Tribune reported. The grant gives local agencies financial help and reimburses eligible firefighting costs.
Back in Spring, a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico has prompted a flood watch for Harris County from Monday night through Wednesday morning, Houston Public Media reported. Neither department has announced a return date for its crews.
