Archives for March 2006

One injured Howardwick fireman has come home, and two others remain hospitalized this week as their community continues to hope for their full recoveries.

All three men were injured March 12 when their fire truck overturned while battling the I-40 fire that burned 350,000 acres in an area 20 miles wide and 55 miles long in Donley, Gray, Wheeler, and Collingsworth counties over a period of several days.

Mayor Pro-tem Marvin Elam says 25-year-old Joey Garcia is at home recuperating from surgery to fix a leg that was broken in two places and from burns to his hands.

Jeff Cook, 45, remains in Northwest Texas Hospital with a broken neck and other injuries. Elam said Cook is doing well and is walking around visiting with other patients. He was scheduled to be released Monday, but Elam said as of Tuesday morning doctors were wanting to perform another surgery on his neck.

The third Howardwick fireman, 62-year-old James McMorries, remains on life support in Northwest Texas Hospital in very critical condition. Among other injuries, sources tell the Enterprise that McMorries has a broken back and suffered two strokes over the weekend. But there was some good news.

“James came around yesterday [Monday],” Elam said. “He opened his eyes and reacted to lights and visitors.”

As of Tuesday morning, McMorries had not opened his eyes again, Elam said, and doctors were planning to reposition his breathing tube and insert a feeding tube to make him more comfortable.

Elam said he hopes to have good news to report on McMorries soon.

“Everyone just keep James in your prayers,” he said. “He’s a good guy with a good family. He’s done a lot for the department and has gotten tires and equipment for us.”

Howardwick’s municipal insurance will cover the firemen’s medical expenses, but the families of the injured men must cope with living expenses since the volunteer firemen will be missing weeks if not months of work.

“They’re all missing work,” Elam said. “The young man [Garcia] is probably hurting the most. He and his wife are expecting a baby this summer.”

Donations can be made to a fund for the individual firemen at Amarillo National Bank. Local donations are being accepted at the Donley County State Bank.

“We’ve had a lot of response from here, and we’ve had donations from people with no connection to the local community,” Elam said. “One lady from out of state was there when the accident happened, and she has sent some money.”

Elam also said he’s proud of his community for the way its come together to support a revitalized fire department. When the New Year’s Day fire burned more than 21,000 acres in northern Donley County, the Howardwick department had only six or seven members. But Elam said that had grown to 30 members by the time of the I-40 fire, and more applications have been received since then.

“We’ve got a lot of new members, people who see the need,” Elam said. “I’m proud of them and the way they are working together. We want to model ourselves on Clarendon’s department, and we train with them.”

In addition to the human injuries, the department also suffered the loss of one of its grassfire trucks during the accident. Donations are also coming in to replace that truck, and a fund has been established at the Community Bank in Clarendon for that purpose.

Of the seven local governments scheduled to hold elections this year, only the City of Howardwick has contested candidates for office.

Six citizens are vying for three positions on the Board of Aldermen. Incumbents Lee Ann Cook and Sam Grider will be joined on the ballot by challengers Susie Langford, H.L. “Buster” Baird, Stanley Couch, and Milton Brown.

A horse race also developed to see who will serve out the term of former mayor Nancy Davis. Paul Bartlett and James McMorries have both filed to run for that office.

Other local entities reported only as many candidates as they had positions available.

The Clarendon College Board of Regents will see two new faces. John Howard filed for the unexpired term of Jimmy Blackerby, and Jerry Woodard will also be a new member. They join incumbents Doug Lowe and Delbert Robertson, who both filed for office again. Longtime member Mike Butts will not seek reelection.

Clarendon Aldermen Janice Knorpp, Mark White, and Tommy Hill file to return to their offices.

Hedley Mayor Janie Hill is seeking another term, and Aldermen Ricki Baker and Leon Ward have filed for their positions again. They are joined by Alderman Jim Lollar, who is serving out the unexpired term of Pamela Casteel and is seeking to continue that office.

The Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees has Joe Lemley and Wayne Hardin both running for reelection.

Offices at Hedley ISD were not open this week because of Spring Break, but at last report only incumbents Cary Don Neeley, Troy Monroe, and Blane Burton had filed for reelection.

Incumbents will also return to the Donley County Hospital Board with Gene Hommel in Place 4, Carolyn Moffett in Place 5, Onita Thomas in Place 6, and Bright Newhouse in Place 7.

Boards without contested races will likely cancel their elections after March 20.

Howardwick will hold its election on Saturday, May 13.

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn announced Friday that state sales tax revenue in February totaled $1.54 billion, up 15.2 percent compared to February 2005.

All three Donley County cities recorded higher sales tax rebates for this period.

Collections for the City of Clarendon grew 1.49 percent with $20,252.30, marking the city’s fifth straight month of growth and bringing the year-to-date total to $71,788.75, which is 9.73 percent ahead of the same point last year.

Hedley’s economy also grew at a fast clip, nearly doubling its rebate from February of last year. The city’s rebate of $909.68 was up 97.46 percent from one year ago, and the year-to-date figure is also 85.95 percent ahead.

Howardwick gained 7.01 percent for a total of $917.11, and that city’s year-to-date figure is also slightly up with a gain of 2.63 percent.

State sales tax revenue for February, and March payments made to local governments today, represents sales that occurred in January.

Wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle this week, destroying lives and property while stretching fire departments to their limits.

The greatest toll for Donley County came from the Interstate 40 fire, which burned ten times the area of the big New Year’s Day fire and caused three firemen from Howardwick to be seriously injured.

The fire started in Donley County near the intersection of County Roads B and 6 when a downed power line ignited dangerously dry grass about 11 a.m. Sunday.

Unseasonably warm temperatures and winds gusting up to more than 60 mph fueled the fire.

“The flames jumped I-40 and burned into Gray County,” said Clarendon’s First Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Powell. “It burned pretty much down the highway and burned through Alanreed and back into Donley County. One finger went off toward Wheeler, and the main fire headed for McLean.”

Clarendon volunteer firemen used every resource available to them to help fight the fire, Powell said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, local and area firemen were still battling the fire south of McLean, and Powell was not optimistic that it could be contained before forecasted high winds hit Wednesday.

“I just don’t see any way that we’re going to be able to stop it today [Tuesday],” Powell said. “I’m afraid it’s going to take off again tomorrow [Wednesday].”

Warren Bielenberg with the Texas Forrest Service said his agency was tentatively saying the Interstate 40 fire had burned 220,000 acres in different counties, but he said that number would likely grow.

“We’re getting satellite imagery analyzed in College Station, and I think it’s going to turn out to be a much bigger number,” Bielenberg said.

Bielenberg also said that as of Monday, the Interstate 40 fire had already burned an area 11 miles wide and 30 miles long.

Smoke from the I-40 fire caused one major accident that injured five people and killed six near Groom. DPS Trooper Daniel Hawthorne said fatalities included Susan Louise Schumacher, 49; Lawrence Schumacher, 56; and Alexis Burroughs, 14, all of Grove, Okla., as well as 46-year-old Karen Lachelle DeWeese of Wagoner, Okla.

The Hutchinson Fire

The I-40 fire was tragic enough, but a fire that started in Hutchinson County will go down as the worst wildfire in Texas history for burning 432,000 acres. That blaze cost seven lives, destroyed several homes, killed livestock by the scores, and caused the evacuations of several Panhandle communities.

An electrical short reportedly started the Hutchinson County fire, and Bielenberg said it took 45 minutes for their plane to fly the perimeter of the area, which was 45 miles wide and 12 to 15 miles across.

The Rowe Fire

Smaller fires also kept local departments busy with the first igniting about noon Sunday in the Rowe Cemetery near Hedley. Again the cause was a downed power line, but Hedley City Secretary Randy Shaw said the blaze was cut off when it ran into a plowed field. No estimate was available for the area burned.

The Crow Hollow Fire

Another downed power line ignited grass near the intersection of County Roads 20 and W west of Hedley and burned to the Crow Hollow Feed Yard.

Hedley, Memphis, and Clarendon firemen fought the blaze and eventually contained it, but not before it destroyed one abandoned house, threatened several homes, and jumped the eastbound lanes of US 287.

An estimated 1,500 to 2000 acres were destroyed.

The FM 1260 Fire

And yet another fire started Monday afternoon south of US 287 on FM 1260 where still another power line sparked the grass. Shaw said that blaze was squashed quickly, but it still consumed 40 to 50 acres.

The danger is not yet over and won’t be without considerable rainfall. Local officials still urge everybody to be extremely careful and to observe the total fire ban, which is still in effect in Donley County and still includes home barbecue grills.

Even a minor violation of the fire ban carries fines and court costs of more than $260.

Three Howardwick firemen were seriously injured, and one fire truck was lost during the fight to contain the Interstate-40 wildfire this past weekend.

Jeff Cook, Joey Garcia, and James McMorries were all still in Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo Tuesday morning.

Howardwick Mayor Pro-tem Marvin Elam said the firemen were fighting the fire north of the south safety rest area on I-40. The truck was moving along a ravine ledge on a fresh cut firebreak when the ledge gave way about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

The grassfire truck was full of water and was therefore top heavy, Elam said. It overturned with Garcia on the front and McMorries and Cook in the cab.

“It rolled maybe twice and ended up on its wheels,” Elam said. “I don’t know what kept it from going all the way to the bottom.”

McMorries and Cook are reported to be suffering from the most critical injuries, and both men were in the CCU at press time.

McMorries suffered a torn aorta, and Cook sustained a broken neck and other injuries.

Garcia, who was able to jump from the truck, had some very bad burns and also broke one leg very badly. He had come through surgery and was in a room at NWTH Tuesday morning, Elam said.

In addition to three firemen being injured, the accident meant the loss of one of the city’s two grassfire trucks.

Donations for the Howardwick department are being taken at the Howardwick City Hall, 245 Rick Husband Blvd., Howardwick, TX 79226-8207. Community Bank in Clarendon has also started a fire truck fund to help replace the lost truck.

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today said Texas is leading a coordinated effort to battle deadly blazes that have swept through the Texas Panhandle in the past 36 hours, burning about 663,000 acres. The Amarillo Trade Winds Airport has become the command post for coordinating the state and local fire fighters working around-the-clock to protect lives and property.

“The state of Texas is aggressively fighting these fires,” Perry said. “We’ve got 25 aircraft available to fight these fires from the air, and four dozen bulldozer crews and 11 engine crews working to contain the fires on the ground. We owe a debt of gratitude to the hundreds of brave men and women fighting these blazes.”

Perry also thanked firefighting crews from Oklahoma and New Mexico, who together have committed seven heavy air tankers to our coordinated effort.

In the past 24 hours, the state has responded to 162 fires in Carson, Childress, Gray, Hartley, Hutchinson, Moore and Wheeler counties. The fires have forced the evacuation of 1,911 Texans; many have been able to return to their homes. Aircraft have flown 17 missions and dropped 5,525 gallons of retardant. There are currently 11 major fires still burning about 530,000 acres in the Panhandle.

The fires have claimed the lives of three persons in Hutchinson County and four in Gray County; the Gray County fatalities were the result of a fire-related accident on I-40 east of the city of Groom. One volunteer fire fighter from the city of Howardwick in Donley County was critically injured while fighting a fire in Gray County.

“We share in the grief of those who have lost family members and loved ones, and we offer our prayers,” Perry said. “Throughout this wildfire season, communities in our state have shown strength and resolve that are uniquely Texan.”

The Governor’s Division of Emergency Management is coordinating resources for the statewide response, while the Texas Forest Service is leading fire fighting operations in the Panhandle. The Texas Department of Public Safety provides traffic control and aerial surveillance assistance. The Texas Army National Guard is providing support and remains on standby to open the Armory in Pampa for sheltering if needed. Texas Department of Transportation and the Public Utilities Commission are providing equipment as needed.

Since December 26, more than 10,000 separate wildfires in Texas have burned nearly 3.5 million acres.

Local and area firefighters continued to battle wildfires Monday afternoon, a day after three Howardwick firemen were seriously injured and undetermined thousands of acres were burned.

At least three separate fires burned property in Donley County as other fires destroyed rangeland, homes, and lives in other areas of the Texas Panhandle as winds in excess of 50 mph pushed flames through explosively dry grass and brush.

Two fires burned near Hedley on Sunday afternoon, one near the Rowe Cemetery and another west of the city, starting near CR 20 and CR W, according to officials at the Donley County Sheriff’s Department. One estimate put the burned area at about 2,000 acres, and US 287 was shut down at one point. One abandoned house was destroyed, but several occupied homes were spared.

Another fire started in the northwest portion of the county near the intersection of CR B and CR 6 and burned up to I-40 then headed east. That fire caused a great deal of damage and stopped traffic on I-40. A multiple vehicle accident near Groom took four lives and injured several others.

“I’m told it looked like Armageddon up there,” Clarendon fireman Chuck Robertson said.

The I-40 fire raged east, and a Howardwick fire truck overturned on an embankment near the state safety rest area, seriously injuring three firemen. Jeff Cook, James McMorris, and Joey Garcia were all taken to North West Texas Hospital in Amarillo for treatment.

Closed sections of highways and diverted traffic caused a huge log jam of travelers in Clarendon Sunday evening that some reports say had 700 vehicles stalled. Traffic on US 287 at one point was backed up to Martin west of Clarendon and to FM 1260 and further east. Traffic north of Clarendon on SH 70 was backed up to the Salt Fork Red River bridge.

No official total was available Monday afternoon for the number of acres burned in Donley County, but Robertson speculated that the total may be four or five times the area that was burned here during the New Year’s Day fire. That blaze destroyed 21,000 acres.

Total estimates of damage in other parts of the Panhandle were being reported between 600,000 and 700,000 acres.

More details will be published in this week’s Enterprise and updated online Wednesday afternoon.