Wise County activated its EOC March 14 due to extreme wildfire conditions in the region. AUSTIN JACKSON | WCMESSENGER
A string of tones hushed the chatter inside the Wise County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on March 14, dispatching a convoy of firefighters, paramedics and officers to the southwest quadrant of the county.
It was 2 p.m., and the five-hour sprint to prevent the next big wildfire had begun.
Winds howled, gusting up to 50 mph. The humidity was so low you could feel it on your skin. That first trill of the radio felt ominous as I looked out over the room of focused faces.
Compared to the professional public servants around me, my role was minor. As community liaison, all I had to do was push out information online and stay out of the way.
Earlier, the EOC team met with the Texas Department of Transportation to discuss evacuation routes. Wise County Emergency Management Coordinator Cody Powell then debriefed the now-activated EOC, outlining the fire task force strike teams staged in strategic locations, the clusters of homes near flammable fields, and the plan — one that had just shifted with a sudden change in wind direction.
Minutes later, the first test came — a fire on 3 Skillet Road between Cottondale and Springtown.
It didn’t sound like much. But the location was remote, and access would be difficult.
Firefighters and task force members closed in. First, they reported smoke. Then flames.
Drone photography of a wildfire in Wise County from 2017. FILE | WCMESSENGER
Wildfires chase the wind, outrunning perimeters. You can cut off a grass fire at the head with enough water and boots on the ground, but when high winds push flames into dry vegetation, it’s easier said than done.
A muffled voice over the radio estimated the fire at two acres, now moving through a heavily wooded area toward ten homes along 3 Skillet Road.
“Here we go,” someone muttered. Then another call came in. Then another. And another.
Within minutes, four fires burned in different parts of the county, each demanding a response.
It’s hard to put the anxiety of a fire outbreak like this into words. The closest comparison I can think of is a dinner rush in the food service industry — but on steroids.
Imagine a 20-top of former fraternity brothers walks in at the start of your shift, ready to relive their glory days. Then an entire youth soccer league follows, with parents requesting separate checks and migrating to the patio without telling you which kid is theirs. As you scramble to take drink orders, you’re double-sat with a bachelorette party and a hangry Baptist women’s Bible study group. Now, if you don’t get every order exactly right within two minutes, the restaurant catches fire, people might die, and the kitchen will still stay open for another six hours.
At the EOC, radios chirped constantly. The new communications director for the Wise County Sheriff’s Office handled calls on her headset while answering questions from the room. Meanwhile, the OEM team started drawing a big red box.
The ten homes on 3 Skillet Road fell within the 1.5-mile evacuation zone set by the fire incident action plan. It was time for those residents to go.
By then, dry air slammed against the west-facing walls of the county building — a reminder, even from inside this windowless room, of what was going on outside and at these fire scenes.
The grim shuttering of the building was followed by the best update of the day: firefighters had stopped forward progress on the 3 Skillet Road fire, limtiing it’s advance to under nine acres. And within minutes, residents were notified that it was safe to return to their homes.
Many other fires kicked off that afternoon and evening, but by 8 p.m., the wind relented. I stepped outside after a threatening fire near Paradise was held to just an acre. The Wise County sky was thick with dust. But it wasn’t thick with smoke.
And that was no small feat.
By the time the night was over, Wise County had seen around ten fire calls. And despite the extreme fire threat, zero homes were lost and zero people were injured.
Residents watch the containment effort before evacuations were requested on 3 Skillet Road. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
You could call it fortunate that the county dodged devastation.
That may be true, to a degree. But I think Wise County created its own luck.
Professional and volunteer firefighters flooded small fires before they could become big ones. County commissioners joined difficult fire scenes, carving fire breaks on dozers. And the team at the EOC brought direction through chaos. And let’s not forget your neighbor who held off on outdoor burning, (for the most part.)
On Friday night, everyone in Wise County made it home safe from the wildfire threat.
But the EOC team had one more task. The group of agency leaders of OEM members reviewed the events of the day, listing off everything that went right and everything that went wrong, preparing to improve their response for the next potential wildfire crisis.
What a relief for those who live and work in Wise County.
Wise & Otherwise is a column by Messenger editor Austin Jackson. He is thankful for our first responders, as well as the Messenger staff members who went to these scenes to capture these fire moments, as he stayed in the cushy air-conditioning last week.
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