UPDATE: Two Wildfires Continue To Burn, One Forces Evacuations

FORT DAVIS -- Two wildfires continue to burn in Jeff Davis County.

This has prompted officials to evacuate the Davis Mountain Resort.

"They say the fire is now three miles from our resort area, but you never know what will happen,"said Marilyn Olson, one of the 150 permanent residents that live in the Davis Mountain Resort area.

She's one of a couple of dozen who have evacuated because of the Livermore Ranch fire, which has burned more than 10,000 acres and is only 50 percent contained.

She and the others are taking refuge at Dirics-Anderson Elementary School in Fort Davis.

"We've been treated so well, I might stay," Olsen said. "But I might actually need to be rolled out for all the food and snacks and baths they've given us."

There are 400 structures threatened in the evacuation area. The Livermore Ranch fire and the Spring Mountain Fire both started from a dry lightning strike in the mountains of Jeff Davis County last Tuesday and have been raging and spreading ever since.

The Spring Mountain fire, the less threatening of the two, doesn't have a ground crew working it. It's burned more than 9,500 acres and is 60 percent contained.

"The Livermore Ranch fire is in an area of heavy fuels, and coupled with the low relative humidity and the winds,the fire is not moving very fast but it creates a pretty good hazard for firefighters," said Patrick Allen, Wildland Interface Specialist for the Texas Forest Services.

Sunday afternoon, the low humidity caused the fire to put out thick plumes of black smoke.

"They haven't had any rain like the rest of Texas," Allen said. "It's still on the highest level of drought."

Allen says they are unsure when containment will be.

"We always like to see it more [contained], but considering the heavy fuels and rough terrain, we feel confident with the tell sources we have ordered," he said.

No injuries or structures lost have been reported.

Which is good news for DMR residents like Dick McCleskley.

"We're doing well," he said. "Just looked outside longingly at the resort. Hope we can go home tomorrow."

They might not be in their homes, but they have food, beds, and a roof over their heads.

"It's hard to appear homeless when we have both our hands and our mouth full of food," he said.

Texas Forest Services also said that luckily, the Davis Mountain Resort is a Firewise community, meaning that fuels that feed fires are reduced in an around the homes. This makes it safer for firefighters during the fire season.