Traffic was moving again along I-45 north of Huntsville as thick clouds of smoke hung over the highway. Firefighters there are mounting an offensive as flames inch dangerously close to the feeder road.
More than 1,600 acres of the Davy Crockett National Forest have burned. The fire here is only 15 percent contained. Strong, gusty winds are fanning the flames and they continue to be enemy number one for firefighters.
Helicopters are being brought in from San Antonio to fight this fire. With so many fires now burning in this part of Texas, resources are becoming scarce.
Alfredo Muskus and his wife own a 1,000 acre ranch south of Madisonville, just five miles north of the fire line. You can see the smoke from their property.
He and his wife have been here 27 years and they've never seen conditions this dry. They're on high alert and have plans in place if the fire starts marching their way.
"This is a 500 gallon tank that we have full of water," Muskus explained. "We do what little we can to be able to help and if we see any smoke we'll run as quick as we can and there's a hose we can operate manually to extinguish any fire."
Dozens of firefighters from several agencies are fighting this fire. So far, no structures have been destroyed. We're told one resident was injured while evacuating, but the extent of those injuries is not known.
Police are asking that drivers not stop along the highway to take pictures of the smoke and flames. This measure is being enforced for safety reasons.
