A press conference was held Tuesday afternoon, May 19 at the Amarillo Department of Emergency Management offices in the Simms Building to update the public on the condition of recent fires in the Bishop Estates, which started at the Amarillo Landfill on Sunday.
Max Dunlap, director of emergency management for the Amarillo Area Office of Emergency Management, presented a brief rundown on the operations for the wildfire, which was listed at 50% containment as of 9:24 p.m.
Dunlap said the wildfire was affecting portions of Bishop Estates, Two Deer Creek, Eagle Tree, Quail Canyon, Bishop Estates and Silver Point.
“Before anything else, I want to acknowledge what a stressful and trying time this is,” he said. “Our thoughts, our prayers, and well wishes are for those affected with you, and we are in this together with you guys.”
Dunlap said that it is neighbors helping neighbors and their agencies helping partners, as well as helping to pray through this difficult time.
“At this time, firefighters remain mostly treating hot spots. The fire was stopped at 1061, so no further movement on the fire,” he said. “At this time, mop up operations are continuing, with roughly 2,559 acres burned.”
Dunlap said damage assessments were still ongoing, as well as utility and infrastructure evaluations.
“Current damage assessment teams are continuing to work through the impacted areas, due to the hazardous nature of all these areas, whether there are power lines, debris or active fire. We are trying to be careful not to release unverified numbers before assessments are complete,” he added.
Re-entry process for residents falls into different categories
Response agencies were working Tuesday afternoon toward a phased and controlled re-entry process, he said.
The first category was for temporary access only, with entry from 1061 and Ranch Road and 1061 and Ranch View Drive, encompassing Bishop Estates and Bishop Ranches. From 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday evening, citizens were allowed back into those areas, with limited access or escorted access to retrieve essential belongings or access damage before exiting.
He said residents should be prepared to present their I.D. or legal government identification or proof of residency to law enforcement officers stationed at check points. “After 9 p.m., we ask that you vacate the area as it is still a mandatory evacuation area,” he said.
In a second category, at approximately 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, citizens were allowed back into their homes in a controlled access re-entry at I-40 frontage road and South Dowell Road. This area encompasses Two Deer Creek, Eagle Tree, Quail Canyon, Alta Vista Estates, Dripping Springs and Silver Pointe.
Both shelters for evacuees were closed as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. For those who cannot stay in their homes or have lost their homes, residents were asked to call 211, and they will provide shelter for you.
Dunlap told residents of the area to call 211 if they found their home to be uninhabitable and not to try and stay in it without heat or electricity or the necessary elements. He said that they had contracts that can allow long-term housing for those affected and to take advantage of that service.
Multiple reports of burned power poles have come through over the last 24 hours, according to Dunlap. Be prepared for debris laying around from buildings, vehicles or blowing debris, and stay away from downed power lines and assume they’re live.
Xcel Energy spokesman reports on restoring power
“Our role is to support the emergency response and restore power safely to the neighborhoods as conditions allow,” said Chester Brown, Director of Operations for Xcel Energy. “Throughout the event, we’ve been coordinating with OEM, fire and law enforcement officials and supporting public safety.”
Brown said that they have been assessing and repairing damage to poles, power lines and equipment and oscillating to energize further into Bishop Estates neighborhoods. The power has been fully restored in Eagle Tree neighborhoods as the situation evolves.
Again, he warned people to stay away from any downed or sagging power lines and to assume they are energized.
Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas stresses need for safety
Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas said that they are doing the best they could to open up the area for people to get in and check on things.
“We also have two chaplains out there for anyone who has lost their home or something of that nature and need counseling,” he said.
“The biggest thing I can tell you is to be very careful,” he said.
Thomas warned that it was a fluid situation, with lots of vehicles, first responders and Xcel Energy and Atmos people moving around.
Potter County Fire Rescue’s Richard Lake gives update
“Since about 4 p.m. Sunday, our department, along with Amarillo Fire Department and Texas A&M Forest Service under a unified command have had fire equipment on the scene 24 hours a day monitoring conditions and making sure that we had responders on the scene,” Richard Lake with the Potter County Fire-Rescue said.
Lake confirmed that the wildfire had happened at the worst time of the day, with the worst winds that they had encountered, and that even with fire apparatus on the scene, they had a very difficult time catching the fire.
Dunlap then thanked the tight-knit community of the Texas Panhandle, including multiple agencies that had shown up to assist the disaster, including Amarillo Fire Department, Potter County Fire Rescue, Randall County Fire Department along with Armstrong and Carson County fire departments.
Dunlap also said that they had reached out to the State of Texas for assistance and were awaiting their reply. Texas A&M Forest Service has been on the scene, all 24 hours, he added.
Landfill fire was closely monitored
When questioned, Assistant City Manager Donny Hooper said that the landfill was closed on Sunday and they responded as they should have, as quickly as they knew. They had 15 units on site and were closely monitoring levels and had various types of equipment working to cool and turn the material.
“A landfill fire burns down instead of burning up,” Hooper said. “So we have special techniques that we want to use for that. Something else that we did immediately is we called a specialized contractor in; they’re actually out of the Metroplex area. They brought in equipment from two different states within 12 hours,” he said. “We had them deployed on site. In fact, they arrived somewhere around 2 a.m., started bringing equipment in and started that specialized treatment to be able to put out that fire, because once it goes down below the surface, it can smolder for a long period of time.”
On Monday, the second day of the fire, Hooper said the contractor was still on site working, and they had a perimeter control around the landfill.
Hooper said that there was a large, high fence around the perimeter of the pit that normally catches any debris trying to blow out, but with 40 to 50 mph winds, it was hard to tell with all the smoke, dirt and debris moving around. “We did not see any embers leaving that site as we were cooling it,” he said, but they were not ruling out the possibility that an ember maybe caught something like the catch fence.
He also said that they were not sure of the cause of the original landfill fire — and may never actually know — but it may have been a chemical reaction or possibly a battery, such as a lithium battery or car battery that shouldn’t have been there. There’s so much trash brought in when they’re open, especially on Saturday, and things can get in there that are not supposed to be there.
He also said that their restrictions are very strict and normally they don’t get items such as chemicals and things like that. He said that they had the landfill fire itself about 75% contained and hoped to have it under control by Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo officials give updates on wildfire sparked at landfill
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
