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Fire evacuees allowed back into homes in Leander
Update 6:15 p.m.:
Leander Fire Chief Bill Gardner said that as of 6:15 p.m., 70 percent of the fire has been contained. He also said that evacuees were allowed back into their homes beginning as of 5:15 p.m.
Lexi Maxwell of the Texas Forest Service said that the helicopters that had been dropping water on the blaze have been released from duty.
Update 4:40 p.m.: Firefighters have halted the advance of a Leander brush fire, but it is not yet contained, according to Lexi Maxwell, public information officer for the Texas Forest Service.
The Leander fire covers 60 acres but it is no longer spreading to the north-northeast toward 800 homes, some in the Highland subdivision. She said she did not know how close the fire was to the subdivision. No homes have been damaged, and there have been no reports of injuries.
About 100 homes were evacuated, not 200 as officials had previously reported, Maxwell said. Those homes are located on Outlook Ridge Loop and Osage Drive.
Some 25 agencies are battling the fire. Two StarFlight helicopters and one Texas Forest helicopter have been dropping water onto the fire. One of the StarFlight helicopters has since been called off.
A bulldozer is also working to make a firebreak to help contain the fire.
Wind gusts in the afternoon helped spread the fire, in a hilly, wooded area. By late afternoon, conditions were still windy, but not as intense as before. By 6 p.m. wind gusts were 33 miles per hour, expected to diminish to 25 miles per hour overnight, which should aid firefighters, Maxwell said.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but some of the fuel for the fire has been brush cleared from the subdivision to make way for homes, Maxwell said.
Officials first responded at 12:35 p.m. to reports of a brush fire.
Officials don’t expect any further evacuations. Maxwell said authorities aren’t sure when evacuated residents will be allowed back to their homes.
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Earlier: About 200 Leander homes are threatened by a large brush fire in the Highland subdivision in Williamson County, a spokeswoman said. Homes near the fire are being evacuated, but officials did not know how many.
The fire, which officials say is about 10 acres and started about noon, is near Osage Drive and headed north. No injuries have been reported, county spokeswoman Connie Watson said.
A temporary shelter is being set up at Leander High School, 3301 S. Bagdad Road, she said. Multiple agencies are responding, including a STARFlight helicopter that is dumping water on the flames.
Photo: Mike Parker/Cedar Park Citizen
