Cooler but still well above normal this week

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More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed
in at least 57 wildfires across rain-starved Texas, most of them in
one devastating blaze close to Austin that is still raging out of
control, officials said Tuesday.
      

Speaking at a news conference near one of the fire-ravaged
areas, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said more than 100,000 acres have
burned in the drought-stricken state.


      The Texas Forest Service says nearly 600 of the torched homes
were in Bastrop County, some 25 miles from Austin. The agency said
that blaze was still uncontained Tuesday. It was the most
destructive fire of the year for a state that has had more than 3
million acres burned, said state emergency management chief Nim
Kidd.


      The number of destroyed homes is expected to go higher as
officials assess hard-hit areas, Kidd said.


      Perry, who interrupted his campaigning for the Republican
presidential nomination, toured one of the fire-ravaged
neighborhoods Tuesday morning.


      "Pretty powerful visuals of individuals who lost everything,"
Perry said. "The magnitude of these losses are pretty stunning."


      Calmer winds Tuesday were expected to help in the battle against
wildfires that flared up when strong winds fed by Tropical Storm
Lee swept across Texas over Labor Day weekend.


      Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Victoria Koenig said it was too
early to say how much progress was made fighting the wildfire in
Bastrop County overnight. The agency says the fire has grown to
30,000 acres.


      "It's encouraging we don't have winds right now, not like
yesterday," Koenig said early Tuesday.


      Even with the encouraging conditions, Koenig said it was a
"tough, tough fire" that was raging through rugged terrain,
including a ridge of hills.


      "You can still see the hills glowing quite a bit," she said.


      At least 5,000 people were forced from their homes in Bastrop
County, and about 400 were in emergency shelters, officials said
Monday. School and school-related activities were canceled Tuesday.


      In Bastrop, a town of about 6,000 people along the Colorado
River, huge clouds of smoke soared into the sky and hung over
downtown Monday. When winds picked up, flames flared over the tops
of trees. Helicopters and planes loaded with water flew overhead,
and firefighters along a state highway outside the city converged
around homes catching fire.


      The fire was far enough away from Austin that the city was not
threatened, but it consumed land along a line that stretched for
about 16 miles, Texas Forest Service officials said.


      There were no immediate reports of injuries, and officials said
they knew of no residents trapped in their homes.


      On Sunday, about 200 miles to the northeast in Gladewater, a
20-year-old woman and her 18-month-old daughter died when a
fast-moving wildfire gutted their mobile home.


Meantime, Perry isn't yet saying if he
plans to take part in a Republican presidential debate in California or stay in Texas to deal with the wildfires.

      Perry says he is "substantially more concerned" about the
people affected by the wildfires than he is about the debate
planned for Wednesday.
      

The longest-serving governor in Texas history says he expects
federal assistance with the wildfires and expressed frustration
that firefighting assets at Fort Hood are not already in use.
      

Perry interrupted campaigning in South Carolina and returned to
Texas on Monday. 

Gallery

Disasters

State officials say more than 1,000 homes have burned in at least 57 wildfires in Texas over the past week.

Texas wildfires destroy 1,000 homes

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