PRAYERS NEEDED: Wild fires in Central Texas

Starflight Makes Over 500 Drops

Updated: Tuesday, 06 Sep 2011, 4:39 PM CDT
Published : Monday, 05 Sep 2011, 9:39 PM CDT

Resources are being stretched thin when it comes to fighting Central Texas wildfires. For instance, there have been so many water drops the past two days in Travis County, that STAR flight had to deny Bastrop County's request to help.

They had all three helicopters already fighting fires in Travis County yesterday and couldn't help Bastrop County out.

Star flight crews made 500 water drops yesterday and today, fighting fires in Steiner Ranch, Pflugerville, and Pedernales.

When crews fly, conditions are smoky and windy. It can be also be dangerous for the people on the ground because each helicopter carries 130 gallons of water.

Normally, they get water out of stock tanks and ponds but they are dried up this year. Firefighters have been filling up a container for STAR Flight. Each crew consists of a pilot and a crew chief.

They got their first called 11 a.m. Sunday and conducted lifts until dark. They started again Monday at 7 am.

They are preparing for what's to come, treating this like a marathon and not a sprint.
Casey Ping is the Program Director for STAR Flight said they have done more firefighting the last two days than the history of the STAR Flight program.

"It is clearly the worst fire season that we have ever had. If you look at our historical perspective with fires, last year we had 0. The year before that, we had 10 with 20 drops," Ping said.

Ping says people should exercise extreme caution because the conditions are ripe for fire.
For instance, he says the Hamilton Pool fire was started by someone welding.

Read more: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/top_...es-Over-500-Drops20110905-ktbcw#ixzz1XEMT6lRl