DMR spared from Livermore fire

By ALBERTO TOMAS HALPERN

JEFF DAVIS COUNTY – After two weeks, 650 emergency management personnel from 29 states, local and area volunteer fire departments, an evacuation order, and much tension, the Livermore Ranch Fire Complex fires are finally out and the Davis Mountains Resort was spared.

“The whole complex we declared 100 percent contained,” Texas Forest Service spokesperson April Saginor said this week.

The two fires, the Livermore Ranch fire and the Spring Mountain fire, despite burning a total of 24,117 acres, destroyed no structures and injuries to firefighters were minor, mostly as a result of dehydration. No residents were injured as well.

(photo by Wildland Urban Interface Specialist PATRICK ALLEN) With the Livermore Ranch wildfire under control last week, firefighters ease up and watch the blaze.

Jeff Davis County Judge George Grubb Jr. lifted an evacuation order for the densely populated resort last Thursday, calling on residents to return to their homes with caution as emergency management personnel exited the area.

“We really got out in front of it quickly,” Saginor said of the fires.

“The incident management team made a commitment to protecting the Davis Mountains Resort. Having a number of people and equipment we had an aggressive attack strategy.”

Shortly after the fires were declared contained, a new fire ignited about a quarter mile from the Livermore Ranch Fire Complex. The new fire started Monday afternoon as a result of dry lighting strikes.

Jeff Davis County Volunteer Firefighters responded to that blaze and by Wednesday morning, the flames were out. A spokesperson for the fire department attributed the success of battling that blaze to the much-needed rain and efforts of the Jeff Davis County volunteer firefighters.