Gayla Reed, who lives out in the area around Bishop Estates that was besieged by fires Sunday afternoon until later in the week, shared about her experience and spoke about her disappointment in the response.
Homeowners allege that the landfill fire was not controlled and was allowed to spread to their neighborhoods during critical fire danger. “We feel like they let the fire burn for over 24 hours and didn’t really try to put it out,” she said tearfully after the press conference held by Mayor Cole Stanley on Friday evening.
Although they did not lose their home, several others did and are looking for a place to live. She said her husband’s tools and a building he had worked on for a long time was destroyed, and it held family heirlooms.
“It was so smoky, we couldn’t breathe at our house for a full day before the fire came,” Reed shared. “My husband went over to the dump that morning, and there was one fire truck.”
She said the fire truck was sitting up there doing nothing, just letting it smoke.
“There was a lady that lived right next to it and someone from there told her — we did not hear it personally — that they were just going to let it burn out,” she said.
Reed complained that nobody was doing anything but watching it. She said that she and her husband were the first to call the fire in on Sunday morning.
“We were told responders were on the way,” she said. “There were a lot of trucks that showed up, but they just stayed on the road and talked to each other.”
“Then, 24 hours later, we were given 90 seconds to evacuate,” she said. “I’m backing out of the driveway with embers hitting my car because it moved fast at that point. But they knew it was going to be windy and that the fire was still burning.”
Reed said her question was about them saying landfill fires can’t be put out. “I don’t know if that’s the official word or not, but it’s funny that it could be put out after all the houses burned,” she said.
Amarillo Mayor Stanley and Max Dunlap, head of Amarillo Office of Emergency Management have said that the Amarillo City Manager Grayson Path had been out at the landfill early Sunday morning observing it and that he called a contractor who specialized in chemical and landfill fires.
Officials said the company they contracted with left immediately and came to the site by the next morning, which was Monday, with a lot of equipment, but high winds contributed in spreading the fires quickly, making response more difficult.
Mayor Stanley said that at no time were firefighters told to stand down.
Stanley said an investigation is underway to determine factors relating to the incident, and an impartial report will be received by the mayor and his staff.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: After fires, resident of Bishop Estates area speaks out
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
