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Howard County wildfire out after weather made it difficult to contain

A wildfire in Howard County is now completely contained, we're told a fallen power line caused it. Crews on the scene said the weather made it hard to get it under control, once the wind picked up. Crews were kept over half a mile away from the fire for safety, 15 homes nearby were threatened but none were damaged.  "Everyone is going home safe tonight," said Howard County Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tommy Sullivan.  Sullivan said the fire off FM 461, n...

HOWARD COUNTY, TX (KWES) - A wildfire in Howard County is now completely contained, we're told a fallen power line caused it. Crews on the scene said the weather made it hard to get it under control, once the wind picked up.

Crews were kept over half a mile away from the fire for safety, 15 homes nearby were threatened but none were damaged.

"Everyone is going home safe tonight," said Howard County Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tommy Sullivan.

Sullivan said the fire off FM 461, near Wildfire Rd. and Longshore Dr. was three quarters of a mile long and half a mile wide. Nine fire trucks and 35 firefighters were called out. Sullivan said the cause this time was a power like that was down, but the weather didn't work in their favor.

"We had wind gusts up to 18 mph out here, the sun has gone down and the wind has laid which works in our favor," said Sullivan.

Howard County is dry from the last two weeks, the last time they saw rain was October 18. On Monday, the the burn ban expired in Howard County, Sullivan said they can see an increase in fires if burns aren't done right.

"If people would do it right, and do their controlled  burns with the fire department's assistance. We need to get those out of the way and get the fuel out of the equation," said Sullivan.

If the department start seeing big fire breakouts, Sullivan said it's possible to coordinate with the county judge and enforce the burn bans sooner than expected.

"If everybody plays nice we won't try and reinforce the burn ban until the first part of January," said Sullivan.

We're told crews will stay on the scene until all embers are put out because they can reignite during the lower temperatures we're about to experience.

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