Residents of rural community in southern Texas ordered to evacuate as firefighters battle blaze

Audio By Carbonatix

GREGORY, TX (AP) — Thick smoke blanketed a rural community in southern Texas and many residents were ordered to evacuate as firefighters worked to contain a blaze Wednesday evening, officials said.

The Mill Fire in Gregory, Texas, about 150 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio, had grown to 15 acres and officials had contained about 50% of it, according to Heather Gonzales, a spokesperson for Texas A&M Forest Service.

Residents across the north end of town were ordered to evacuate and a shelter was set up in a nearby community center. No injuries were reported and because of the heavy smoke, which was creating poor visibility, officials were not able to provide information on structures burned.

“There is heavy smoke in the area that could pose a health risk,” Gonzales said. “So we do want to advise people to leave and avoid the area.”

The weather on Wednesday created perfect conditions for a fire to spread quickly, with very dry air and wind speeds between 15 mph (24.1 kph) to 30 mph (48.3 kph) in the area, she said. But by the evening, the fire had stopped spreading and the weather was expected to improve over the next few days.

It wasn't immediately clear how the fire started Wednesday afternoon, and officials were continuing to investigate, she said.

“Ground crews are working on patrolling the area and taking care of any hot spots that they’re finding," Gonzales said.

CenterPoint Energy, a major utility provider, had temporarily shut off natural gas service to the city as a precaution, according to a post on the city's Facebook page.