Despite an unexpected engine malfunction, the Denton Fire Department sent one of its battalion chiefs Monday afternoon to assist with wildfires in other parts of the state.
The department intended to send a brush truck along with three Denton personnel to relieve Coppell fire personnel in Chalk Mountain. But Battalion Chief David Boots said a mechanical issue with the truck left the department unable to fulfill that request.
Instead, Battalion Chief Mark Mason is accompanying two Double Oak Volunteer Fire Department personnel and their department’s truck.
The situation is fluid and the department is not yet sure what wildfire the team will respond to. For now, they’ll stop in Waco and wait for more information to “trickle down” from the state.
Although there are several wildfires burning across Texas, the Chalk Mountain fire, roughly 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, is by far the largest. This fire — currently at 20% containment — has burned about 6,700 acres since July 18, Boots said.
Meanwhile, other fires across the state have burned several hundred acres.
“There’s a lot of stuff burning out there right now — some of it small, some of it big,” Boots said.
As for Chalk Mountain, Lee Anderson, a chief with the Texas A&M Forest Service, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Sunday it would be about two weeks before the fire is fully extinguished.
Mason and the Double Oak personnel are expected to be deployed for about seven or eight days.
Correction
An earlier version of this story misstated where Denton's battalion chief would be sent. The story has been updated.Â
BROOKE COLOMBO can be reached at 940-566-6882 and via Twitter at @brookecolombo.
