Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Read more
Thick smoke blanketed a rural community in southern Texas and many residents were ordered to evacuate as firefighters worked to contain a blaze Wednesday evening, officials said.
The Mill Fire in Gregory, Texas, about 150 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio, had grown to 15 acres and officials had contained about 50% of it, according to Heather Gonzales, a spokesperson for Texas A&M Forest Service.
Residents across the north end of town were ordered to evacuate and a shelter was set up in a nearby community center. No injuries were reported and because of the heavy smoke, which was creating poor visibility, officials were not able to provide information on structures burned.
“There is heavy smoke in the area that could pose a health risk,” Gonzales said. “So we do want to advise people to leave and avoid the area.”
The weather on Wednesday created perfect conditions for a fire to spread quickly, with very dry air and wind speeds between 15 mph (24.1 kph) to 30 mph (48.3 kph) in the area, she said. But by the evening, the fire had stopped spreading and the weather was expected to improve over the next few days.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the fire started Wednesday afternoon, and officials were continuing to investigate, she said.
“Ground crews are working on patrolling the area and taking care of any hot spots that they’re finding,” Gonzales said.
CenterPoint Energy, a major utility provider, had temporarily shut off natural gas service to the city as a precaution, according to a post on the city’s Facebook page.