COUNTY LIFE
Grass fire burns nearly 500 acres in Nocona Hills area; residents evacuated for short period
A fast-moving wildfire sparked Sunday afternoon near Nocona Hills threatening hundreds of homes in the Lake Nocona area and forcing evacuations from homes in the path of the fire.
Wildfires across the state of Texas this past weekend caused death and destruction in their paths fueled by drought conditions, low humidity and high winds. Sunday was deemed a red flag day for high fire conditions.
The Texas A&M Forest Service reported in total as of Friday agency firefighters worked on 13 wildfires for more than 71,074 acres.
In Montague County, the fire call came in at 2:18 p.m. for Nocona Rural Volunteer Fire Department and the Nocona Hills VFD for a fire on Nocona Drive in Nocona Hills, northeast of Nocona.
Nocona Rural Chief Rusty Henley said while en route they saw a large column of smoke and immediately requested the next closest department, Saint Jo VFD to respond.
On arrival, firefighters found a fast-moving fire in grass and heavy brush with multiple structures threatened. Henley noted the weather was 79 degrees, 16% relative humidity and falling and winds at 15 to 33 mph.
“Units began making direct fire attack where possible,” said Henley, “in an effort to stop the fire at the next road, Shady Grove Road. Extreme fire behavior, including long-range spotting and crowning were observed. A countywide request was made for other departments to assist.”
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
Nocona is preparing for the 74th annual Chisholm Trail Rodeo May 8 and 9 at the Chisholm Trail Arena.
The rodeo will take place at 7:30 p.m. Nightly with the Ryan Ready Band playing for the rodeo dance afterward on Saturday night. Tickets in advance are $12 and $15 at the gate.
All the traditional rodeo events are planned along with non-sanctioned events of junior barrels for 16 and under. There is $250 added each night, a jackpot nightly and contestants have a $50 entry fee. Entries open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 4-5.
The new Chisholm Trail Rodeo Queen and Princess will be crowned during Saturday night’s performance. Read about these young ladies in your Thursday Bowie New.
Clara Anderson
TxDOT is hosting a virtual meeting to review projects included in the 2027-2030 Rural TIP.
The program is at 4 p.m. on May 6 and 11:59 p.m. on May 19, all online at https://bit.ly/4uhDwMG
The Rural TIP is a list of local projects to be funded during the next four years in the Wichita Falls District of the Texas Department of Transportation.
The counties included are Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cooke, Montague, Throckmorton, Wichita, Wilbarger, and Young. Transportation projects cannot receive federal funding unless they are included in the Rural TIP. This includes projects for private vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, public transport, and commercial vehicles.
A section of Roach Street has been closed for the last few weeks as a new sewer line was installed replacing old clay tile line. It is phase two of multi-phase sewer line project across the city funded through a Texas Water Development Board loan of more than $9.7 million. The project will replace nearly10 miles of aging lines. (News photo by Barbara Green)
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