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Major Fire in Brooks County

7 years 2 months 3 weeks ago Sunday, January 22 2017 Jan 22, 2017 January 22, 2017 2:54 PM January 22, 2017 in News

UPDATE (1/23): Authorities are investigating if a power line is to blame for the massive fire in Brooks County.

The fire had broken out into two, but one was contained. Monday morning the second fire is only smoldering.

Crews are still working the area to keep the flames from rekindling.

According to a Brooks County judge, early estimates are there were about 7,000 acres destroyed. The fire was mainly brush and no injuries were reported.

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BROOKS COUNTY--Firefighters are working to contain a massive wildfire in Brooks County.

The Texas A&M forest service says the Hopper fire burned 2,000 acres. As last check, it's 10 percent contained.The fire has become less intense thanks to lower winds and higher humidity.

Crews are expected to be fighting the fire all night. 

"There's always that fatigue, being tired. That's why we keep accountability of which firefighters are out there and how long," said Ruben Ramirez from the Falfurrias Fire Department. 

Crews also received medical care.

"We have what we call rehab.The firefighters will come out. They'll rest up after hours and go back in. They'll have their vitals checked by EMS. Then the paramedics release then back to the fire. They'll go back to the fire. If not, they'll go back home," Ramirez said.

An evacuation order has been lifted. Crews have been fighting this Brooks County fire for most of the day. It has been hard for them to contain it. 

"We live in an area where it is very hard for the fire trucks to get in there. Even though we have done everything to get into the area where the fire is at. The sandy conditions, the terrain is horrible, it's dry right now. So we have a lot of things working against us," said  Brooks County judge Imelda Barrera.

She added the fire ended up breaking into two and crews are working a fire in the 3066 area.

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