Olney VFD joins state, U.S. battle on Campbell Ranch fire

The Olney Volunteer Fire Department turned over the Campbell Ranch wildfire to state and federal fire agencies after an exhausting four days of battling the dangerous, wind-driven blaze in temperatures that soared to 110 degrees F.

Young County fire departments were called to FM 1768 on Campbell Ranch for a grass fire, said Jarod Cook, EMT-P and Young County Liaison Officer for the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

“[Firefighters] arrived to find a wind-driven fire moving at a high rate of speed through 18- to 24-inch high grass,” Mr. Cook said. “The fire was be- lieved to be started by a lightning strike from a storm system moving across the county that evening.”

County and state emergency management officials requested aid from the Texas A&M Forest Service (TAMFS) because of the fire’s size and behavior, he said.

But by the time TAMFS arrived, Young County units already had the fire under control and TAMFS did not need to engage the fire at that time and were released from the scene by fire command, he said.

Young County fire departments continued mop up efforts until around 2 a.m. on Friday morning – the fire was 100 percent contained and had burned about 900 acres at that point, he said.

But at 10:41 a.m. on Aug. 11, county fire departments were called back out to the fire on the Campbell Ranch for a rekindle due to high winds.

“The fire once again was wind-driven and very fast moving and was resistant to all firefighting efforts,” Mr. Cook said. “The fire had burned another 100 acres when it jumped State Highway 79 into Archer County and was burning in juniper shrub and grass fuels.”

As Young County firefighters engaged the fire, Young County Sheriff ’s deputies went well into Archer County to warn residents in the path of the fire to evacuate, Mr. Cook said.

State emergency management officials again requested assistance from the Texas forest service, which was busy with a number of wildfires over the weekend.

“Due to multiple large fires burning in the state, air, and ground assets were not immediately available but were being sourced,” Mr. Cook said. “Upon arrival of [the forest service], the seriousness and magnitude of the Campbell Fire was realized and resources were diverted to this fire.”

State and federal fire departments mustered one Air Attack aircraft (AA), one Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT), one Large Air Tanker, four single-engine Air Tractor tankers, and a Blackhawk helicopter to drop retardant on the fire until dark.

Overnight Friday night, Young and Archer County VFDs engaged the fire well into Archer County until approximately 2 a.m., Mr. Cook said.

“Archer County Fire Departments were stretched thin fighting multiple other fires within their county,” Mr. Cook said. “[The Texas forest service] deployed multiple dozers and started digging containment lines, cleaning up the flanks and trying to stop forward progression of the fire.”

On Saturday, the Florida Forest Service, which had been stationed in Texas weeks prior to this fire in preparation to assist with wildfires, deployed to the Campbell fire.

By noon on Saturday, a 25-person team was on sight and established an Emergency Operations Center in the Olney Civic Center.

Staging for incoming Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) teams and Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF) teams were established at the Check Six Ranch in Archer County due to its close proximity to the fire.

Crews continued to engage the fire throughout the weekend supported by multiple Texas state agencies.

As of midnight Sunday, the fire was 75 percent contained and had burned an estimated 8,000 acres, Mr. Cook said.

Four firefighters were treated by medical personnel and released for issues ranging from heat exhaustion to wasp attack, he said.

“TDEM and the State of Texas would like to thank Young and Archer County volunteer fire department personnel and all outside assisting agencies for putting their lives on the line to protect the citizens of our great state,” he said.