Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks to reporters on March 22, 2022.
Local fire crews are still working to contain a small wildfire in north Harris County after winds shifted on Tuesday and gusts reached up to 20 miles per hour.
Houston Fire Department District Chief Robert Ausmus said that the Caddo Fire near Greens Bayou was about 75% contained by Tuesday afternoon. The blaze has extended about 200 acres and crews are using drones to monitor the conditions of the fire. It is unclear how the fire started.
“And the reason for the 75% contained — even though we have a box around the whole thing — is we have that weather coming in and it shifted from the south,” Ausmus said. “So, that last 25% is focusing on the effects the weather’s going to have, specifically the wind on that northern edge of our fire line.”
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There have been no injuries reported from the fire, and no reports of injured wildlife.
The area is owned by the Harris County Flood Control District, which has joined efforts to address the fire, Ausmus said.
There’s no immediate danger in the area, but several crews will remain on the scene after the wind shifted south overnight. Ausmus said that the shift was anticipated by crews, who first arrived on the scene of the blaze late Saturday.
“We had all our resources, and we were working on the southern side [to] make sure it did not cross that southern fire break,” he said. “But plans were already in place for the north side, and work was being done over those two days, knowing today’s wind shift would happen. And all the plans that we had in place, we completed that, and so we were ready for the wind shift.”
On Monday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that after 1 p.m. Tuesday, the threat of the fire growing would be significantly lowered.
“Then the incident commander and the experts will determine when it’s appropriate to close down the incident,” Hidalgo said.