Members of the Lake Dam Volunteer Fire Department returned home on Wednesday after sending a type 6 brush engine which was requested to help in the Bastrop Complex Fire.  Crew members Chief Chris Weber, Tami Brown, Lindsey Brown, and Mona Murdock left Monday and returned Wednesday morning around 3:00am.

“It is a very bad situation down there, so many people displaced through mandatory evacuations or having their homes lost,” stated Tami Brown of the Dam VFD.  “Some of those that lost homes were the very firefighters that were battling that monster, as well as some Texas Forest Service personnel or their families. The support of the community that I witnessed firsthand was so tremendous; there are not words to really describe it.”

Other departments included Santa Anna and Coleman who were part of a task force that travelled to the area to help as well.

According to Brown, it was expected that fire fighters were getting a better handle on the fire, but a tremendous amount of “mopup” is still to follow, as well as cleanup.

The Texas Forestry Service said that over 33,000 acres have been consumed by the fire in Bastrop in the last several days. There have been two confirmed deaths and over 700 homes destroyed in the area.

According to TPWD incident commander Robert Crossman, all but about 100 acres of the 6,000-acre park have been blackened by fire, but firefighters have so far been able to save most of the Civilian Conservation Corps-constructed structures on the park, with two possible exceptions – two CCC observation structures believed to have been damaged.

Photo above was released to news media by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department showing the Bastrop Fire.