Texas wild fire got my barn and airplane parts

[carlisle1926]

I've seen several people posting about the fires in California and Texas. I feel for any of you dealing with the fires. Yesterday, there were just over 3,000 acres burned west of Centerville, Texas and the fires are still raging today. Our 20 heavily wooded acres, small house and the barn we incinerated in the fire storm. I lost several airframes that I had there that I used to cut pieces off of to make nose art panels. I had parts to a Russian L-29 that were melted. Part of the tail section survived with only a little melting. I had a stash of DC-3 and Lockheed Lodestar parts that were completely liquified. They were piled up behind the barn and they were so melted that I found the aluminum completely beneath the dirt. It is a given that most of this stuff was junk anyway, but it stings to see the destruction. The pictures I've listed show some of the destruction---note that this area was densely wooded a few days ago and now only a few trees are standing. People here in Texas are really suffering from these fires.http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l523/cjasonbarnett/Centerville%20house%20fire/

Last edited by carlisle1926 on Tue Sep 06, 2011 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[RyanShort1]

Very sorry to see that. We've had major fires near Austin (over 500 homes lost), and a few minor (so far) ones near San Antonio, as well as all over the rest of the state. The place is a tinderbox for sure. I'm trying to do my part to report anything I see start from the plane in hopes of getting someone to the site quickly before it spreads.
If you pray, pray hard for rain in Texas!

Ryan

[carlisle1926]

I did notice today a plane circling the area for several hours. I figured it was someone trying to help the firefighters find the worst spots. Keep up the good work Ryan, we need the help!

[RMAllnutt]

I did notice today a plane circling the area for several hours. I figured it was someone trying to help the firefighters find the worst spots. Keep up the good work Ryan, we need the help!

Very sorry to hear of your losses... I am sure it must have been awful. I remember your posting recently with the L-29 tail section. Please take care, and best of luck with rebuilding.

All the best,
Richard

PS. Was it your home that you lost too... or something else? If you need help, I am sure you can get some via this site, as we always seem to pull through for fellow wixers. Keep us posted.

[carlisle1926]

Other than the loss of the aircraft stuff and the contents of the barn, all is good. This was the family weekend house to escape Houston. The house has looked like something from a horror movie for years now anyway, so it wasn't a tremendous loss. So, were good there. The main tail piece of the L-29 was already at home in Houston, so it survived the fire. The horizontal stabilizer and a few other L-29 pieces were vaporized. When I said that we need the help here, I meant that the other people of the area need help fighting this mess. I think the fires that they have near Austin/Bastrop are a bit worse due to the amount of people living in the area. Where my house was is a fairly sparsely populated area. Most people there have property from 20 to 200 acres, so there are fewer homes. The last total for my neck of the woods was about 30 homes lost and countless livestock and damage to the land. Near Austin they are estimating about 500 homes so far. It is a real mess.

[Lynn Allen]

I saw 2 PV-2's headed to the Tyler area this evening. We had smoke from grass fires all around us today. It really makes you think about what you have and what others have already lost...

[carlisle1926]

Yes it does make you think.

[Invader26]

Sorry to hear about your loss and the losses in Texas - my other favourite part of the world.....

Keep smiling ....

[RickH]

That poor old L29 has really been through it ! First a hurricane and flood, then neglect, then parted out and now melted down ! Not much else you could do to it !

[Django]

Sorry to hear that.

[The Inspector]

My thoughts go out to everyone who is being affected by the fires or Hurricanes or flooding going on. It's tragic to lose your house and all your stuff in a disaster, the key to all of this is, as long as you and yours are alright then you are ahead of the game because you an always get more stuff but you can't get a loved one back-

[Dave Lindauer]

I'm really sorry for your losses.

I was at my ranch in Ellis County on Sunday when a dark smoke cloud suddenly appeared. I was VERY thankful when the smoke quickly turned white and then stopped.

Thank you, firefighters everywhere.

[Jack Cook]

I know first hand what fire can do and it really sucks to have it happen.
I'm really hoping no m,ore homes are lost. We've got a bunch of wild fires going here again
from the lightning storms last week. Not many homes but a lot of timber going up in flames!

[Obergrafeter]

Hopefully Lake Travis will have enough water in it for the bombers to keep scooping water for firefighting. That is the lowest I have ever seen the lake. At least the bombers have a clean run in and out.

[carlisle1926]

That poor old L29 has really been through it ! First a hurricane and flood, then neglect, then parted out and now melted down ! Not much else you could do to it !

It is amazing the hell that the L29 has been through. I hauled what little is left of it home. I have an idea for it already.
I'll be heading up to remove all of the scrap iron at the home site this weekend to haul it all to the recyclers. I have several ingots of aluminum there to pull out of the ground now.

For the sake of all of those in the path of these fires right now, I hope that the winds die down a bit more and that the fires will be out soon.