Fire misses family's home in Bastrop County, after burned down twice before
BASTROP COUNTY (KXAN)— Chelsea Toliver breathed a sigh of relief on Monday when she returned to find her home intact, after being forced out by the Hudson fire.
The fire—burning an estimated 400 acres, at 50% containment as of Monday evening—missed her family's home within a mile.
"I was panicked," Toliver said. "I initially was just trying to figure out, like, how bad the situation is, if we needed to leave immediately...it got a little worse."
Toliver evacuated her home with her husband, two young daughters and cats on Sunday night, not willing to take any risks.
"It's been in [my husband's] family since he was a baby, and they've had two houses down right the same spot burned down before," Toliver said.
No structures were damaged as a result of the Hudson fire, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. It said the fire started at a barn or shed, leading to dozens of evacuations.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said its helicopters were assisting on Monday, dumping water on hot spots to work to get the fire fully contained.
"Crews are going to work on mop up and containment activities," Kari Hines with Texas A&M Forest Service said. "That means they're working along those bulldozers to make sure that any threats to the line are as contained as possible."
As crews face the flames and smoke head on, some wonder how much longer they can live here.
“Every year we get threatened," Yolanda Pearson said. "[This year] we lost power for a little while...I really thank everyone, like the firefighters and the medical teams…We take things for granted.”
Toliver said living in a wooded area, you expect for wildfires and stay prepared.
“It's always in the back of my head," Toliver said. "I have a bag full of important documents in case... you know, this house is actually burned down [again]."