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A large wildfire that resulted from cold
front driven high winds on Tuesday, January 29, burned one residence
and caused extensive additional damage. The flames burned through the
ghost town of Jakehammon, once a railhead serving the nearby Desdemona
oil boom.
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JAKEHAMMON FIRE LINE. This was the wind-driven wall of flames
approaching the line of firemen assembled along Highway 2156 on
Tuesday afternoon, January 29. |
No longer commonly listed on road maps,
Jakehammon was located about a mile east of Highway 16 near the
northeastern corner of Comanche County.
Investigators believe the fire resulted
from sparks generated by wind-whipped electrical wires serving an
irrigation well near the northwestern head of the inferno.
Before the fire was contained, it
consumed an estimated 1,400 acres according to Comanche County's
Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg. Approximately 1,000 round
bales of hay were destroyed, as well as numerous barns and
outbuildings of various types. There were no known firefighter
injuries nor animals lost.
The high northerly winds and the
ultra-low humidity caused the fire to be a fast moving event. It
eventually blackened a path around two miles in length. The winds also
varied in direction sufficient to cause the fire to spread sideways to
its main pathway.
The fire was originally thought to have
bypassed and spared the home of Harold and Betty Lewis. Firefighters
were elsewhere concentrating on the ever moving leading edge of the
blaze when a shift in wind caused a new wall of flames to rapidly
approach and consume the unprotected home. Mr. Lewis was reported to
have suffered some burns while attempting to quench the flames with a
garden hose.
At the same time the Jakehammon blaze was
burning, numerous other wildfires were being fought across north
Texas, all resulting from the same strong cold front. The Texas Forest
Service's wildfire fighting resources were completely involved in
other fires and unable to come to Comanche County.
Nevertheless, firefighters from more than
a dozen area agencies cooperated to contain the Jakehammon fire.
Volunteer fire fighting units from DeLeon, Desdemona, Gorman, Carbon,
Promontory Park, Sipe Springs, Lingleville, Huckabay, Rising Star,
Dublin, Proctor, Eastland and Olden joined in the battle.
Comanche fire fighters remained at the
ready to respond to any other blaze that should erupt during the
firefight.
Firefighters were assisted by the Texas
Department of Transportation, the Comanche County Sheriffs Office, the
Department of Public Safety and Comanche County Precincts 3 & 4.
The wildfire's southward advance was not
contained until it reached Highway 2156, less than a mile from Highway
16. There a line of fire trucks stood on the high ground above a road
shoulder that had been freshly turned by road maintainers and farm
tractors.
The fire was first reported around 11:30
a.m. and was not considered to be fully contained until around 4:00
p.m.
Late that same day, many area fire
fighters, including units from the DeLeon VFD, were called to another,
smaller wildfire in a rural area west of the Beattie community, about
12 miles west of DeLeon. The late day fire was widely visible as the
flames illuminated the smoke.
The Beattie fire was contained early
Tuesday evening, but continued to give firefighters trouble on the
following two days as continuing high winds -- from the south on
Wednesday and again from the north on Thursday -- kept bringing the
flames back to life and threatening to cause additional widespread
damage. |
