Wildfire burns 234 acres near Lake Greenbelt

High winds and dry conditions fueled a wildfire that consumed about 234 acres on the south and west of Greenbelt Lake Sunday afternoon, March 15.

The fire destroyed six unoccupied structures, two boats, and one travel trailer, according to Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department Second Assistant Chief Chuck Robertson.

“We dodged a huge bullet, and I’m super thankful that we were all so blessed,” Robertson said.

CVFD firefighters were paged out at 10:30 a.m. to a fire at the Beach Club area of Greenbelt Lake on the southwest side of the reservoir. Seventeen firefighters responded to the blaze with 10 units, and Howardwick and Hedley firefighters responded to the blaze as well.

Robertson said he called the Texas A&M Forest Service for state resources and got an immediate response.

“I made one call, and we had boots on the ground within 45 minutes,” Robertson said, adding that air support arrived within 90 minutes.

Mutual aid support also came from Wellington, Samnorwood, Memphis, Hoover, McLean, Groom, Skellytown, White Deer, Wheeler, Mobeetie, and Briscoe in addition to multiple other fire departments assigned to the forest service’s Strike Force. Strike Force EMS units also were staged on standby at the Associated Ambulance Authority building in Clarendon.

By 11:00 a.m., Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn issued an evacuation order for all residents south of Greenbelt Lake to US 287 between Hwy 70 and FM 3257. The Donley County Activity Center and Methodist Church in Clarendon opened for evacuees, and the Red Cross arrived to assist with those needs.

At some point a second fire started, possibly from a downed power line, south of the original fire. Robertson said firefighters considered both fires as one incident since it threatened the same evacuated area.

The Corner Pocket Fire, named by the forest service, threatened several homes near the lake and burned through the Boy Scouts’ Camp Tommie Saye, but no youth were at the camp last weekend.

“Fortunately, Greenbelt had done a prescribed burn several weeks ago along Kelly Creek, and the fire burned from the scout camp into that previously burned area,” Robertson said.

Later in the afternoon, a third fire erupted in Howardwick’s Saints’ Roost Addition, also from a downed power pole, but Mobeetie firetrucks were on the road to return home and were able to respond immediately and extinguish that blaze without much damage.

The Corner Pocket Fire was largely contained and controlled late Sunday afternoon despite windspeeds around 60 miles per hour, and local firefighters returned home about 5:30 p.m. The evacuation order was also lifted about that time.

Texas Forest Service Strike Force members stayed on the scene to control hot spots and remained active Monday with helicopters dropping water on hot spots.

Fire Chief Jeremy Powell was on vacation during Sunday’s wildfire, but Robertson credited the chief for making plans before he left town.

“I’m thankful for Jeremy Powell’s leadership,” Robertson said. “He got all the information together for us assistant chiefs that we needed to be prepared in case something like this happened.”

Sunday’s fire is a reminder of the ongoing wildfire danger in Donley County and the surrounding territory. People are urged to use extreme caution and should make plans to be able to act quickly in the event of an evacuation order.