It started as the perfect fall weekend: Breezy, sunny skies, cool temperatures.
Then it spawned one of the worst disasters in Central Texas history. More than two thousand homes destroyed, landmarks burned, whole habitats changed forever. The Labor Day Wildfires of 2011 took some lives, uprooted others and changed Central Texas history: from the way emergency responders plan for fires to building codes and water usage.
It also brought communities together like never before. These are some of the voices of the fires: A vast oral history project by KUT News to collect and document the fires that swept through Central Texas that tragic weekend of September 2011.
You can listen to the one-hour documentary on KUT 90.5 FM in Austin today, Sept. 4, at 3 p.m., and Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. You can also download the documentary above and transfer it to your phone or iPod (right-click on “Download” and choose “Save As”).
2011 wildfire evacuations sometimes happened too fast for residents to collect their or their neighbors' pets.
Nathan Bernier of KUT News reported this article as part of our special series on the 2011 Labor Day Wildfires with KUT News, Forged in Flames.Â
Today at 3 p.m., KUT 90.5 FM in Austin will air a special one-hour documentary telling the story of the fires. It will air again Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. You can listen on air and online, and download the documentary here at StateImpact Texas.
Exactly one year ago today, large wildfires broke out in Bastrop, Steiner Ranch, Spicewood, Pflugerville and other communities in Central Texas. Hundreds of people were forced from their homes and grabbed whatever they could in the few minutes they had. But that often meant that pets were left behind to fend for themselves.
As the fires rapidly approached, families were told they had to evacuate. Residents like Michelle Bielinkski from Steiner Ranch recalls getting her entire family into their car, then hearing noises from her neighbor’s home.
“Because they were out of town but we had know the dogs were there because we could hear them barking,” she remembers. “That’s when the policeman stopped us from going back over to their house. Because at that point we were going to break the window to see if we can get them out.” Continue Reading →
State officials, conservationists, and representatives from donor groups marked the start of a tree replanting campaign by watering seedlings in Bastrop State Park.
Well-wishers and reporters sweated under the late summer sun recently in Bastrop State Park, as officials announced the start of a tree planting campaign for a forest that was 95 percent destroyed by fire last year.
Texas Parks and Wildlife hopes to raise millions of dollars to fund a vast tree replanting effort. For many, that campaign marks a new beginning in the life of the park.
“You know the good thing about today and what this kind of symbolizes is that we’re through looking back. We’re looking forward. And that’s what planting a pine seedling is all about,” Texas Forest Service Director Tom Boggus told the crowd.
But as the speakers gathered for a photo-op to water the seedlings, the past wasn’t really that far behind. The fact that the seedlings were there at allcame down to a very close call about a year ago, when the Forest Service had almost thrown away all the seeds that are now so essential to the park’s recovery. Continue Reading →
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