6:20 pm: Fire is visible from west side of Alpine and flames visible on ridge above Sunny Glen, according to Gazette Publisher John Waters, stationed on FM 1703 to Sunny Glen. Alpine Police Chief said the fire is “moving fast.”
Firefighting crews from Alpine, Marfa, Fort Davis as well as the Texas Forest Service and US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are all site and involved in firefighting efforts. Local police, the sheriff and deputies, and DPS agents are also on scene in various support roles.
Fire has apparently jumped HWY 67/90 in five places, but the more aggressive part of the fire appears to be in the vicinity of Toronto Canyon.
View of the fire from the west side of Alpine, along HWY 90, looking west.
At 5 pm, Waters says the scene on the west side of town is “quite dramatic.” Smoke hampers his ability to see actual edge of fire. All but emergency responder personnel have been evacuated to east of the railroad bridge on the west side of Alpine. There are a number of emergency vehicles on site, and several aircraft dumping fire retardant on the flank of the fire.
Brewster County Sheriff’s Dept. has ordered a mandatory evacuation of all residences west of Moseley Lane in Alpine. The Alpine Civic Center is open for evacuees. Sul Ross State Univeristy’s Range Animal Science Center on the east side of town is available for livestock that need to be evacuated and temporarily boarded elsewhere.
View of Schwartz Fire smoke plume some 55+ miles to the east, from FM 1703/Sunny Glen road Sunday evening just before 7 pm.
Â
View of smoke from fire burning down-slope on a ridge just on the edge of Sunny Glen. View from second road blockade at Tom Lackey Lane on FM 1703/Sunny Glen road.
Against the backdrop of the fire on the edge of Sunny Glen Sunday evening, around 7 pm, Public Information Officer D.L. Wilkerson (left) and Gazette Publisher John Waters (right) communicated fire information via mobile phones. Waters was routinely calling in to Marfa Public Radio, KRTS 93.5 FM, to give updates.
Locals with tanks full of water volunteered rushed to the scene to help in the firefighting efforts.
Aircraft took turns filling up from portable "pond" (artificial holding tank) nearby and then dousing the flames on the edge of the fire near FM 1703 on the edge of Sunny Glen.
View of the smoke from the fire at about 7:45 pm Sunday evening, from about a mile away, near Tom Lackey Lane at FM 1703.
Â
Â
Â
