Austin-area wildfire is 85% contained after destroying an apartment building and damaging others
By Rebekah Riess, CNN
(CNN) — Fire crews have contained roughly 85% of a brush fire in an Austin, Texas, suburb that has been burning for two days and destroyed one apartment building, damaged others and prompted evacuation orders, officials said Thursday.
The blaze started Tuesday in Cedar Park, a city of about 77,000 people roughly 20 miles north of Austin.
The fire, which was named Parmer Lane for a nearby street, is down to 37 acres on Thursday from its initial 120 acres, the Texas A&M Forest Service said.
“Fire crews continue to make significant strides towards containment,” Cedar Park officials said in a Thursday news release. “There continues to be no forward movement of the wildfire area and firefighting efforts will continue over the next several days to return to safe conditions.”
The city also released an updated assessment of the damage to the Bexley at Silverado apartment complex from the fire. One building with 24 units was completely destroyed, while two others had partial fire damage in 14 total units.
Roughly 300 apartment units, 95 townhomes and nearby businesses were evacuated, city officials said Tuesday.
The fire was reported after 6 p.m. Tuesday, when crews found the apartment buildings burning, the city said in the news release.
More than 20 state and local agencies responded to the fire, the news release adds.
The Red Cross is continuing to provide support to those residents who have been displaced by the fire.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Joe Sutton and Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.
