Fewer firefighters needed as Texas wildfire almost contained

GLEN ROSE, Texas (AP) — Fewer firefighters are needed as a stubborn two-week-old North Texas wildfire nears being fully contained, officials said Tuesday.

The multi-agency Southern Area Incident Management Team said it’s turned management of the 10 1/2-square-mile (27 1/3-square-kilometer) Chalk Mountain Fire over to the Texas A&M Forest Service after firefighters brought containment from 89% on Monday to 93% on Tuesday.

Forces fighting the fire 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Fort Worth have been drawn down from 250 firefighters on Sunday to 150 on Tuesday, the statement said.

There was “little activity or heat occurring across the fire,” the statement said. “The occasional flareup is still possible on the Chalk Mountain Fire, but these flareups involve sporadic heat intermixed with pockets of burned or partially burned fuel on the interior of the fire.”

Fire conditions remained explosive in the area with extreme drought combined with temperatures topping 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius).