BASTROP, Texas (AP) — Residents forced out of their Texas neighborhoods by a devastating wildfire are anxiously awaiting word about their homes: whether they survived or are among the nearly 800 in charred ruins.
Dozens of wildfires are burning across drought-parched Texas, but the most destructive is a 33,000-acre blaze in and around Bastrop, a city east of Austin. Thousands of people were forced to quickly evacuate, many with just armfuls of clothing, photos or other possessions.
For some, it was the last time they saw their homes.
Many residents say they’ve received cellphone photos or videos from those who sneaked back into the fire zone or from firefighters and police checking on friends’ houses. Others are being left to crowd around lists of the lost street addresses posted at the county convention center
