UPDATE: Blanco County Emergency Management said forward progression of the Smoke Rider fire was stopped late Tuesday night.
Multiple task forces with firefighters from Blanco, Hays and Travis Counties are currently on scene, as well as dozers and ground crews from the Texas A&M Forest Service. The containment line is progressing well, Blanco County Emergency Management said.
A significant number of ground crews as well as additional air assets are expected in the morning to continue working towards containment. No additional evacuations were ordered.
Both US Highway 290 and Ranch Road 165 are currently open. Authorities say a significant number of fire units are on scene and working along roadways, so watch out for firefighters when driving in the area, officials said.
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(Original Story)
Several fire departments are trying to get two grass fires under control in the Hill Country.
Multiple crews are battling the Smoke Rider wildfire in Blanco County that has so far burned 800 acres and is 30% contained.
Along Highway 290 East and Ranch Road 165, fire crews from Blanco and Hays counties and other responding agencies could be seen Tuesday afternoon working to extinguish the fire from the ground and sky.
Highway 290 is shut down from Ranch Road 165 to Ranch Road 3232, according to Blanco County Emergency Management.
Texas A&M Forest Service confirmed the fire had jumped Highway 290 as it spread north. There are evacuations in place in that area.
Thirty structures, the majority of them homes, are under mandatory evacuations in this area.
A temporary evacuation center was set up at Blanco Methodist Church at 61 Pecan Street.
There is also a fire burning west of Fredericksburg in Gillespie County near Harper, where officials said 400 acres had burned and was 10% contained, as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
KSAT 12 meteorologist Sarah Spivey said the fire danger will remain high on Wednesday.