A firefighter coughs from the smoke after starting a controlled burn in an attempt to save buildings in Jones County

Pray For More Rain

In 2011 I was a multimedia journalist on staff at the Reporter-News in Abilene, Texas.

That was the year Texas burned.

More than 30,000 individual wildfires scorched more than 4,000,000 acres of land, nearly half of all the acreage that burned in the entire U.S. that year.

A sign at a gas station near Merkel, Texas

An ongoing drought coupled with strong winds, extremely high temperatures and low humidity — as well as an abundance of fuels from a previously wet winter — set the stage for the conflagration. At least 10 people were killed, more than 2,000 homes destroyed, and billions of dollars in infrastructure was damaged.

The Texas Forest Service, the front line coordinators for fighting the fires, set up their state-wide command post less than 20 miles from our town. From February through November I covered more than 30 wildfires and wildfire complexes (where fires join together), including some of the largest in the state. Even years later their names bring back sharp memories: Cooper Mountain Ranch, Possum Kingdom, Swenson, White Hat, Wildcat. Nearly 600,000 acres of ranch and wild grassland burned in my own backyard.

Pyrocumulus clouds begin to form over a large wildfire in Stonewall County, Texas. Intense heat causes these clouds to form above fires and volcanoes.

Firefighters get briefed before heading out to fight a fire near Maryneal, Texas

A cedar tree “torches” near a country road in Stonewall County. The fire truck dumped 400 gallons of water on the tree to douse it, but as soon as they left to refill their tank, the tree was engulfed

To help battle the numerous blazes across the Texas, firefighter came from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. In all more than 16,500 personnel worked the fires, and the TFS reported deploying 244 bulldozers, 986 fire engines and 255 aircraft across the state. Planes and helicopters dropped more than 34,000,000 gallons of water and fire retardant in more than 10,000 drops.

A helicopter tanker lifts off after refilling its bucket from a stock tank in Scurry County

Even though so many firefighters came to help, I covered a lot of volunteers. Sometimes these men and women would be up all night fighting a fire before heading home to take a shower and grab a bite around 6 a.m. They’d report to their job, and as soon as they punched out, they’d head back to the fire line. In one town I saw the mayor taking turns putting eyedrops in the eyes of folks who had been out in the smoke all afternoon.

Firefighters extinguish a fire near a billboard off Interstate 20 between Abilene and Merkel

Communities came together to provide food and water for the firefighters, and to provide for those who lost their homes or had to evacuate for safety. In the midst of the tragic losses, it was inspiring to see these people come together to support one another.

In Colorado City, a list of temporary shelters hangs on the door of the Civic Center

Cots are laid out at the Colorado City Civic Center to provide a place to sleep for those forced to evacuate their homes as the fires inched closer

I learned so much that fire season. I remember getting a call from my editor while I was covering the circus in town. I was told to drop that and immediately head to Colorado City, about an hour to the west, where a huge fire was threatening homes.

Firefighters douse a home that was destroyed north of Colorado City. The home owner had lost his job a few months before the fire, and had chosen to let his insurance lapse so he could pay other bills.

I stayed out with the fire crews until about 2 a.m. before catching a few hours of sleep in a hotel that a local TV station had erroneously reported was on fire. I learned that you can’t tell a good story standing far away, across the street, in a safe spot.

Fire moves quickly through the underbrush in western Taylor County

I also learned that in the right fuel and wind conditions, a wildfire can consume up to a football field’s distance in about a minute. I learned to always have an exit strategy, to “battle from the black” (fire can’t burn an area that’s already been burned, or asphalt), to always be aware of which way the wind is blowing.

I gained such a huge admiration for the firefighters, the men and women who spent countless hours trying to keep people and property safe.

Hand crews were deployed to cut fire lines in rough and uneven terrain.

A single-engine air tanker (a modified crop duster) flies through thick smoke at the Gas Plant Fire

Emergency personnel gather at a temporary command post near the Gas Plant Fire in Fisher County

A resident gives directions to a grass fire to a volunteer with the Hawley Fire Department

Firefighters from Abilene work to extinguish a small fire in the median of Interstate 20 outside of town. Incredibly dry grass and low humidity meant many fires were started by cigarette butts thrown from passing cars, from sparking brakes on trucks and trailers, and from blowouts.

A firefighter from Anson, Texas sprays down a small fire from the front of a brush truck

A tanker helicopter prepares to fill up from a stock tank while battling the Trent Mesa Fire.

A woman looks on with a garden hose as her husband uses a tractor to push burning debris from a building into a pile. With fire crews stretched all over the region, sometimes homeowners had to fend for themselves until help could arrive. Bulldozers and road graders were instrumental in scraping away combustible material from homes and other buildings.

A firefighter fills a tanker truck as an air attack plane flies overhead. The twin-engine planes would fly above the fire and direct the tanker aircraft on their drops

Texas Highway Patrol officers discuss road closures in Nolan County as smoke from a nearby grassfire made the interstate impassable due to low visibility

As dusk approaches, strong winds carry smoke from a grass fire into the sky

A helicopter with a 400-gallon bucket attached prepares to make a drop over a fire in Nolan County

Homeowners used whatever means they had to try to protect their property. When garden hoses couldn’t reach the fence line, they resorted to buckets to douse hotspots.

The heat from this fire was so intense it warped the metal beams on the front porch

Firefighters know this house burned at over 1,200 degrees because the heat melted the aluminum window frames

The garage burned down around this old pickup truck

Firefighters chat with a resident after battling the Gas Plant Fire in Fisher County

A road grader helps clear a road during operations on the White Hat fire

Texas Forest Service colleagues have a quick conversation while passing each other on a county road in West Texas

A firefighter refills his engine with water from a nearby tanker truck while fighting a fire in Jones County

While most of the fires I covered were in rural areas, occasionally one would encroach on a town and burn into residences and commercial buildings.

Firefighters open a rolling door after entering a storage building to extinguish a fire

A burned fence post stands along a county road in West Texas.

Firefighters roll down a county road in Scurry County en route to a grass fire

Black ash from nearby wildfires covers the sandy bed of the Salt Fork of the Brazos River in Stonewall County, Texas

Thanks for taking a look.

All photographs © Greg Kendall-Ball / Abilene Reporter-News