Rain Helps Crews Battle Texas Wildfires
HOUSTON (AP) - Rain has boosted efforts to douse wildfires in Southeast Texas but not enough to allow hundreds of evacuees to go home.
Jason Curry, with the federal incident management team coordinating firefighting efforts, says Trinity County was getting a "downpour" Wednesday morning. Forecasters say the chance of thunderstorms continues through Thursday.
Curry told The Associated Press that the area has received as much as 2 inches of rain since Tuesday. The so-called Bearing fire, which has blackened more than 20,000 acres, is 60 percent contained.
Curry says the 1,800 homes and business in Grimes County, 60 miles northwest of Houston, evacuated Monday night must remain empty because nearby wildfires are not contained. He says 30 structures have burned.
Wildfires that burned nearly 4,200 acres in Jasper have been contained.
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