Texas pleads for help as fires sear state – Officials triple estimate of destroyed homes
By Ashley Powers and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times
7 September 2011 Reporting from Bastrop, Texas, and Los Angeles – Beleaguered firefighters battling one of the most destructive Texas fire seasons on record found themselves punished not only by searing weather, but by lax brush clearance and dwindling budgets. With no end in sight to scores of blazes – the largest had burned 785 homes and was only 30% contained Wednesday – fire officials pleaded for more equipment, and experts urged property owners to do a better job of protecting their homes. “We needed resources yesterday,” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said, noting that he and Gov. Rick Perry – who was in California for a debate of GOP presidential contenders – were requesting that the federal government declare the state a major disaster area. […]
Texas pleads for help as fires sear state 
By KAREN BROOKS, with additional reporting by Jim Forsyth; Editing by Greg McCune
8 September 2011 AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Some 1,386 homes have been destroyed in a monstrous fire burning southeast of Austin that has destroyed more homes than any other blaze in Texas history, county officials said on Thursday. The devastating new number – nearly triple what officials had said earlier in the week – is the county’s “best estimate” of the nearly 34,000-acre fire that’s been ripping through this rural, historic community since Sunday, said Bastrop County Emergency Coordinator Mike Fisher. “This is based on everything we had in (the count) before, plus a house by house and driveway by driveway count we did last night,” Fisher said. The blaze has killed two people, forced the evacuation of 5,000 and was about 30 percent contained Thursday, officials said. More than 3.6 million acres in Texas have been scorched by wildfires since November, fed by a continuing drought that has caused more than $5 billion in damage to the state’s agricultural industry and that shows no sign of easing. […]
As the Onion says: "Perhaps it is time for an emergency tax break!"