The Saddle Fire in Bandera County destroyed homes as fire departments and state assets worked together to control the blaze.
BANDERA COUNTY, Texas — What remains of the destruction in Bandera County is a blackened, smoldering landscape filled with leveled homes and memories turned to ash.
The Saddle Fire broke out around 1:30 p.m. Friday in the area of Old San Antonio Loop near Hunters Road,
Fire departments from across Bandera County and beyond united in fighting the blaze. State assets included retardant drops from planes based out of Kerrville, which proved effective in helping contain the fire.
Authorities say the fire originated from a pile of tires and quickly spread, although the exact cause remains under investigation.
Rebecca James is a lifelong Bandera resident who knows what it’s like to experience such devastation alongside loved ones.
James feels for the families who lost their homes in the Saddle Fire because these are people she’s known for decades.
“They’re good friends and they lost everything they have,” James said. “In 1978 here in Bandera, I lost my house in the flood, in the big flood we had, so I know how it feels to lose everything and you just process it with God’s help.”
The American Red Cross setup operations at the Silver Sage senior citizen center in Bandera to help displaced families.
James is also assisting those impacted by the Saddle Fire, knowing how resilient and strong the community can be during such tragic times.
“I bought shoes, socks, underwear, pants,” James said. “My friend, she came out of her house with no shoes on. She just walked in, she had been sitting outside and said she had walked into her home and she could see the backside was on fire so they immediately go out.”
Bandera County Fire Marshal Jason Rutherford urges the public to be vigilant in light of the dry conditions that make it a potential recipe for disaster for fires to break out.
“We need them not to be doing stuff with fire, welding, cooking outside, anything on a red flag day, on high wind days,” Rutherford said. “We’re going to be prepared for tomorrow, we’re shooting for 100% putting this one out just because of the high winds tomorrow we don’t want to restart here so we’re going to be here a while.”