MINERAL WELLS, Texas — A growing wildfire racing through parched fields and woods west of Fort Worth on Tuesday isn’t likely to make it far enough east to threaten the heavily populated metropolitan area, a state forestry official said Tuesday.
The fire started Friday near Possum Kingdom Lake, 70 miles west of Fort Worth, and linked up with several smaller blazes. By Tuesday, it had burned nearly 150,000 acres, destroyed 30 homes and a church and forced many residents to flee the area, said Marq Webb of the Texas Forest Service.
Webb said fire crews would be able to establish “battle lines” to keep the blaze from Fort Worth, one of Texas’ largest cities with nearly 750,000 residents. But the statewide drought, hot temperatures and gusting winds have made for ideal conditions that have allowed wildfires to ignite and spread quickly in several parts of the state, including Austin.
Authorities ordered the 400 residents of Palo Pinto, 56 miles west of Fort Worth, to leave the city Tuesday because of the advancing flames, said Trooper Gary Rozzell of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
