WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Crews from Smith County Emergency Services District No. 2 are lending a helping hand to their fellow firefighters across Texas.
Over the last two weeks, Charles Clanton, Smith County Emergency Services District No. 2 division chief of training, and his team have traveled west to help combat wildfires near Possum Kingdom Lake and now Wichita Falls.
"We're assigned to a task force here, which is consisting of dozers, brush trucks of various types, and even some structural type engines," Clanton said.
Clanton said fighting the wildfire near Possum Kingdom Lake was difficult because of all the terrain and cliffs in that area. He added that rainfall throughout Texas this summer helped vegetation grow. Now, that vegetation is fuel for a fire.
"We're going through drought conditions here, which really isn't that unusual in this part of Texas, this time of year. However, they had a little bit of an increase in rainfall early in the summer, which caused quite a bit of growth. And so now they're experiencing drought conditions with a bit more fuel than normal. And so it's got us activated," Clanton said. "We're doing this with an increased frequency, I guess, would be my straight answer."
Crews coming out to help in other areas is all about Texans serving their fellow Texans, Clanton said.
Depending on the weather forecast, the crew may be back sooner than expected as the fire danger in that area decreases.