Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts

Texas fires still out of control

Posted by The Popular News Today on Friday, April 22, 2011

Midland wildfire prompts evacuationsSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Firefighters were "pretty lucky today," a state spokesman saysAll six new fires reported Sunday are under control, the Texas Forest Service saysStill, several blazes involving more 130,000 acres are uncontrolledThe National Weather Services issues "red flag warnings" for parts of six states RELATED TOPICSWildfiresTexas Dallas (CNN) -- Once fearing one of the worst days in the state's history for battling wildfires, Texas firefighters got the upper hand Sunday on several blazes though others remained out of their control.

The six new wildfires reported Sunday, all in different counties, were relatively small and quickly brought under control, the Texas Forest Service said in a statement.

"(Firefighters were) pretty lucky today," said Alan Craft, a spokesman for the state's Lone Star Incident Management Team.

The most damage -- to an unoccupied mobile home, horse trailer and another building -- occurred over an acre in Newton County, but that fire was controlled.

Eleven structures were threatened and one camper was lost over 129 acres in Angelina County, the state agency added.

Still, despite successes in squelching these blazes, authorities were fighting to manage 19 other, appreciably bigger blazes. This challenge, as well as the weather outlook, had prompted the Forest Service to state that "conditions on Sunday could shape up to be among the worst in Texas history."

Gov. Rick Perry renewed a disaster proclamation in effect for all of Texas' 249 counties -- even though major fires are occurring in 13 of them -- to expedite assistance in case of new fires, his office said Sunday in a statement.

In addition to more than 750 personnel working with the Texas Forest Service, the governor's statement noted that two Blackhawk helicopters with the Texas Military Forces, bulldozers from the state transportation department and resources from 60 fire departments statewide were part of the effort. Authorities in the Lone Star state have responded to 6,831 fires over 643,000 acres since wildfire season began.

The biggest fire still not under control was continuing Sunday in 71,000 acres in parts of Stonewall, Knox and King counties. Air resources, bulldozers, fire engines and other tools and personnel were being used in that fight, the Forest Service said.

Another of the hardest slogs may be in Presidio County, where none of the 60,000 imperiled acres was considered to be contained Sunday. The Forest Service has deployed three air tankers, 60 firefighters, bulldozers and other equipment and personnel, in addition to a host of other state and local resources, focused on this blaze.

Already, 30 to 40 homes in Fort Davis have been lost due to this fire, according to the Forest Service.

Another 34 homes have burned in Midland County, due to a fire over 16,500 acres that the state agency on Sunday described as "very active" and not at all contained. A Red Cross shelter has been set up at Midland College for those displaced or otherwise affected by this wildfire.

"(Firefighters) can't outrun it," said Craft.

There have been no evacuations yet related to another 60,000-acre blaze, this one in Potter and Moore counties near the city of Masterson. That fire is 50% contained and is still considered a threat to the towns of Dumas and Sunray.

Texas is not alone, as wildfires are burning in large swaths of the Southwest and Midwest, fanned in part by dry, warm and windy conditions.

The National Weather Service has issued "red flag warnings" through Sunday evening -- indicative of what it calls "critical fire weather conditions" -- in New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. But by Sunday night, such warnings were only in effect for parts of Texas and New Mexico.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Sunday extended a state of emergency for seven counties. The designation authorizes state agencies to make emergency purchases needed to quickly deliver resources to local jurisdictions, the state's emergency operations center said. The National Weather Service has posted fire warnings for the western two-thirds of the state.

On Saturday, a grass fire burning just south of Cleveland, Oklahoma, prompted evacuations.

As many as 70 firefighters were involved in the response, as well as three helicopters, said Terry Dennis, a spokesman with the Cleveland Fire Department. Twelve families checked into a Red Cross shelter, but more were evacuated, he said.

Dennis said Saturday there had been no reports of injuries.

In Texas, the fear is that relentless heavy winds and dry weather could spawn a rash of wildfires similar to those that swept across the southern plains states on April 9, 2009. Those fires scorched 147,924 acres, destroyed 111 homes and killed four people, the Texas Forest Service stated on its website.

CNN's Stephanie Gallman, Mariano Castillo and Kara Devlin contributed to this report.



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Matt Kenseth dominates Texas to snap 76-race skid

Posted by The Popular News Today

Matt Kenseth had a dominating run at Texas, breaking a 76-race NASCAR Sprint Cup winless streak Saturday night.
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Texas lands MotoGP from 2013

Posted by The Popular News Today on Saturday, April 16, 2011

Dorna Sports, S.L., 3FourTexasMGP, LLC and Full Throttle Productions, LP are pleased to announce the historic signing of a ten-year contract bringing MotoGP to the new Circuit of the Americas™ facility in Austin, Texas, from 2013.

This agreement includes the three categories of the World Championship; the MotoGP class - the pinnacle of motorcycling - Moto2 and Moto3.

The addition of a ten-year MotoGP deal is coupled with the already scheduled ten-year deal to host the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix™, for which the Circuit of the Americas™ in Austin, Texas is currently under construction.

Mr. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, S.L. said: “We are delighted to be adding the Circuit of the Americas™ to the MotoGP calendar. It’s an honour to expand our Championship to Texas, which has a rich history of producing World Championship riders. We have had a wonderful and special relationship with Kevin (Schwantz) for 20 years and often talked about a mutual dream of increasing the popularity of MotoGP in the U.S. and raising our already successful worldwide profile. Now, with what Tavo Hellmund (Managing Partner of Full Throttle Productions) is doing in Austin, we have realised that situation and are looking forward to this new venture together. The ten-year agreement is a sign of our confidence and commitment to the future success of MotoGP racing in Austin.”

“For me this is a dream come true, that the MotoGP World Championship will be in my home state of Texas. I am such a believer in the sport and know how popular motorcycling is in Texas. I am sure that this will be a resounding long term success,” stated Mr. Kevin Schwantz, Manager of 3FourTexas MGP and LLC, and the 1993 FIM MotoGP World Champion.

Mr. Hellmund, who has worked hard to bring MotoGP to Texas, stated: “We are extremely pleased to add the best motorcycle World Championship to our annual schedule. This is a fantastic opportunity for the State of Texas and this region and I believe it is the first time in American Motorsports history that both the car and motorbike World Championships are held at the same facility annually. We are very proud of becoming the United States international facility for motorsports.”

“Kevin and I have been close friends for a long time and I enjoy a great relationship with Carmelo. I respect so much what they (Dorna) and the FIM have done for MotoGP globally. It’s going to be great for the State, the product is fantastic and you never know, we may even have a reigning Texan in Ben Spies as World Champion for our first event… that would be icing on the cake” concluded Mr. Hellmund.

Construction of the new facility is progressing well and is scheduled for completion sometime in mid 2012, in time for the first Formula 1 United States Grand Prix™.

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Schwantz: Texas GP offers “exciting prospect”

Posted by The Popular News Today

Following news on Tuesday of the addition of the Circuit of the Americas™ in Austin, Texas, to the MotoGP calendar from 2013, Kevin Schwantz spoke to motogp.com about the ten-year deal to bring the World Championship to his home state.

Discussing the new facility, which is currently under construction and is due for completion in mid-2012, the 1993 500cc World Champion’s enthusiasm was evident at the prospect of the new event.

“Having watched the development of this facility I am genuinely excited about it, and I think it’s going to be highly attractive,” Schwantz told motogp.com. “From a rider’s perspective, which is how I look at things, I think it’s going to be a great track. It’ll be really challenging, it’s going to be safe and it’s going to be a nice, long lap. As a rider you will have to work to be able to put good laps together in order to be able to stay at the front of the race. There are a lot of good things and for me it’s a very exciting prospect.”

The input of Schwantz has been central to helping develop the circuit as one suitable for motorcycle racing, as he continued to explain: “One of my good friends here in Texas, Tavo Hellmund, is the one who put this whole project together. He is one of the three owners of the facility and when talking with him about it he was speaking about F1 – I was thinking that from a safety perspective we needed to make sure we didn’t do anything that would alienate us from bringing bikes here.”

“When they got into the design process of it I got fairly hands on. I don’t do a lot of work on the project day-to-day, but I sat in on quite a few meetings with the guys from the design group to make sure that we leave enough run-off for bikes, that it is safe enough for motorcycles, and hopefully that’ll be something that everybody notices.”

The importance of a long-term vision for the GP will, in Schwantz’s opinion, aid the raising of MotoGP’s profile further in the US.

“It’s all about the riders. If they like and love the place and feel it’s safe, they will be the biggest advocates of it and will talk about it and like racing here, and that’s what will attract the people here,” he said. “We want to try and make the profile of MotoGP here in America just like it is in Spain and Italy. We want it to be one of the top two or three forms of sports over here.”

“As riders we also know how excited people can be about racing. We want to be able to put everything in place to make it an event that everybody wants to come to, and one which you simply can’t afford to miss. From a logistical standpoint we are going to have a track that’s less than 10 miles from the state capital, with the airport being halfway between the city and the track. There are a lot of things that have been really thought through that will make it that much more enjoyable for the fans and a greater fan experience.”

Schwantz’s work in aiding the promotion of the new event will continue in the lead-up to the debut GP in 2013. “It’s exactly what I’ve been doing in the past at any opportunity I’ve had, with both Laguna Seca and Indianapolis. If I’m needed to do anything while all the MotoGP guys are off racing and there’s help needed with the publicity I’m hands on and am happy to do it,” he said.

“What I want to do is to try and get our sport the recognition it deserves. Laguna Seca has Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson and all those guys out there in California, and I do help there on occasions when I can, and it’ll be the same thing here in Texas. Home is close by, and I hope to be able to help promote everything that happens at the facility with motorsports in mind.”

“Having to travel only 20 minutes for my school to a site that’s a world class facility will be ideal,” he commented. “From the very beginning I knew what the facility would be like and for us something that hosts a World Championship level event and something close by here in Texas will be excellent.”

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