Calmer winds could help Texas firefighters

Deffibaugh said.

The evacuations included the entire 1,200-resident town of Gorman in West Texas, but the city manager in nearby Eastland said Saturday the evacuation order had been lifted.

Fires destroyed at least 60 homes Friday, burning across about 655 square miles around the state, the Texas Forest Service said. Some of the fires have been burning for a week or more, including three in West Texas that have charred a combined 400,000 acres, the equivalent of more than half of the state of Rhode Island.

Volunteer firefighter Gregory M. Simmons, 51, died while battling a 3,000-acre blaze Friday afternoon near Eastland, Mayor Mark Pipkin said. Simmons had been a firefighter for two decades, including 11 years in Eastland, the mayor said.

Simmons and other firefighters fled their truck as it was being overrun by flames, and Simmons fell in a ditch, where the fire caught him, said Justice of the Peace James King, who pronounced Simmons dead at the scene along a rural road.

The combination of powerful winds and low humidity Friday was rare for north central Texas, said Dennis Cavanaugh of the National Weather Service. Winds were expected to be around 10 mph Saturday after whipping in the 50 mph range a day earlier. Humidity readings were expected to remain low, possibly in the single digits, Cavanaugh said.

Roads reopened Saturday around Possum Kingdom Lake, allowing residents to assess damage in a popular recreation area where at least 30 homes burned, Deffibaugh said.

The blaze left a thick gray haze across the sky Friday as it burned about 20,000 acres around the lake. By nightfall, a deep red glow hovered on the horizon as thick billows of smoke were illuminated by the flames.

Officials closed the surrounding state park and evacuated campsites earlier Friday, fearing the fire would block off the only access roads to the wooded area.

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