News - National
Texas wildfires now 30 percent contained
Posted: Sep 7, 2011 6:24 AM by Kirsten Bennett
BASTROP, Texas (AP) - The Texas Forest Service says massive wildfires near Austin are 30 percent contained.
Agency spokeswoman April Saginor says lighter winds have helped firefighting efforts in Bastrop County, where blazes have destroyed more than 600 homes and blackened about 45 square miles.
Saginor says the weather conditions mean Wednesday "should be a good day for" those battling the wildfires.
The National Weather Service says Bastrop will experience northeast winds at 5 to 10 mph.
At least 11 other fires exceeding 1,000 acres blazed Tuesday in Texas. The disaster is blamed largely on a yearlong drought, one of the most severe dry spells the state has ever seen. The Bastrop County fire is the state's most devastating wildfire in over a decade.
As Seen On News 5
