HAYS COUNTY — Hays County is one of 191 counties in Texas to be included in a disaster declaration in response to widespread wildfire activity throughout the state. Neighboring Travis, Caldwell and Blanco counties are also on the list. "The state of Texas continues working with local officials to re...

HAYS COUNTY — At approximately 3:13 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, Hays County and state agencies received a request for assistance on a fire burning north of San Marcos. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental, caused by equipment use. Dozens of agencies would soon respond to a fire that, ...

KYLE — In the throes of a historic heat wave and drought, wildfires have consumed acres across Hays County following fires in San Marcos, Buda and Wimberley in late July. Hays County has had a burn ban in effect since July 11 after Hays County Fire Marshal Mark Wobus provided a recommendation to the...

Landowners can now apply for a grant to help reduce risks posed to their property by wildfire. The State Fire Assistance for Mitigation (SFAM) Mechanical Fuels Reduction Grant offers financial assistance to landowners to reduce the risk of homes lost to wildfires through the use of accepted mechanic...

By Megan Navarro FORT STOCKTON — Three Kyle Fire Department (KFD) firefighters — Adam Laird, Andrew Cortez and Trent McCarty — were sent to Fort Stockton to support local officials in preparation for potential wildfires. They arrived in the area on Friday, March 31, as part of a Texas A&M Forest Ser...

WIMBERLEY – At Blue Hole Regional Park, the city of Wimberley is working to remove oak wilt — one of the most destructive tree diseases. The disease has killed more than one million trees in 76 Central Texas counties, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Oak wilt is an infectious vascular dise...

By Megan Wehring   HAYS COUNTY – While residents have seen some recent rainfall, Hays County is still under a burn ban.   More than half of the state of Texas is under a burn ban, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service Burn Ban Web Map. Out of a total of 254 counties in Texas, 153 are under a bur...

By Brittany Anderson   HAYS COUNTY — Firefighters from Hays County and across the state have battled two separate wildfires for nearly a week now, with one fully contained and another nearly contained.   On Aug. 2 around 1 p.m., a 200 to 250-acre wildfire (“Smoke Rider”) ignited near the Hays/Blanco...

Staff Report UPDATE [Aug. 8 at 10:45 a.m.]:  According to the Texas A&M Forest Service incident viewer, the size of the fire is 44 acres and is at 90% containment as of Aug. 7 at 4:19 p.m. UPDATE [Aug. 5 at 4 p.m.]: Evacuation orders will be lifted at 6 p.m., and residents will be able to return to ...

By Megan Wehring HAYS COUNTY – Wildfire activity has been increasing throughout Hays County and across the state.   As hot and dry conditions persist, extremely dry vegetation will continue to support wildfire activity across much of the state, even as surface moisture increases in some areas, accor...