City Of Bryan Texas

'Person of interest' found as Grimes County fire reaches nearly 6000 acres

A "person of interest" has been identified as someone in connection to the barbecue pit that is believed to be the cause of nearly 6,000-acre fire in Grimes County that started Sunday afternoon.

"We still have reason to believe it was a barbecue pit that got out of hand Sunday afternoon," Grimes County Sheriff Donald Sowell said.

No criminal charges have been filed yet, Sowell said, as law enforcement is still dealing with the fire itself before an investigation can be completed and charges filed.

"I don't know if this is a criminal offence or just negligence," Sowell said.

Firefighters in Grimes County continue to battle the massive fire Tuesday afternoon that has spread to 5,800 acres and resulted in 1,800 homes being evacuated with more than 30 homes destroyed.

As of noon Tuesday, less than 35 percent of the fire had been contained, Texas Forest Service spokesman Justice Jones said, resulting in the most devastating fire in East Texas history.

"This is the worst wild land, urban interface fire in East Texas history," Jones said. "We've never lost this many homes in one single fire."

Six bulldozers and a Type 1 helicopter are in service to quench the flames, Jones said, with a request for four single-engine air tankers that he said he hopes will arrive by Tuesday afternoon.

With the "stiff competition for resources across the nation" to fight fires, Jones said the likelihood of receiving extra help is not a guarantee.

"We're seeing unprecedented fire behavior because of the ongoing drought and the dryness of vegetation and fields are the result of that," he said.

As the fire spreads north through treetops "in a manner that we cannot control," Jones said the fire is like many others across Texas. He said the typical fire season begins early to mid-July, so the high amount of fires are beginning earlier than expected.

So far this year, more than 530 homes and 3 million acres have been destroyed statewide.

"We've always had fires in Texas, but this is the first year where we've had fires everywhere in Texas at the same time," he said. "All areas of Texas are experiencing wild land fire right now."

Sowell said winds were at 20 mph Tuesday morning, down from 30 mph on Monday, helping the extinguishing efforts.

"At this point, we're hoping conditions don't flare up like yesterday," he said.

The fire is bordered on the south by County road 302, on the north by County road 305, on the east by FM 1774 and on the west by Texas 362, Sowell said. So far no firefighters or residents have been injured or killed by the flames or in the evacuation process.

City of Bryan, TX Installs Cooper Lighting LED Streetlights to ...

Bryan Municipal Utilities applied for and was awarded a $540,000 matching grant through the ARRA to install approximately 1,400 energy-efficient streetlights. After an extensive evaluation process, the city chose two LED luminaires from Cooper Lighting to replace its 150-watt HPS street lighting fixtures. Expecting to see a savings of 25 to 30 percent in energy costs by installing Cooper’s Streetworks™ OVH LED Cobraheads (80W) and CLB Generation LED Decorative Post Top Luminaires (70W), officials are achieving an actual energy savings of 30 to 35 percent, and meeting the city’s sustainability goals.

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