Update 11:50 a.m.:

Firefighters are hoping to use a period of relief from heavy winds Tuesday to attack the head of the Bastrop Complex fire on its southern side, county emergency management officials said this morning.

County judge Ronnie McDonald said the new damage estimates put the Bastrop Complex fire at 28,500 acres.

Emergency management coordinator Mike Fisher said the estimate for houses destroyed was now close to 500, but they did not yet have an exact count. Fisher said firefighters were concentrating on preventing the spread of the fire from the east to the west. The lack of wind Tuesday morning was causing smoke from the fire to lay down over Bastrop.

Fisher also said the Union Chapel fire in Cedar Creek had grown to about 1,000 acres overnight and had destroyed 25 homes, but that he was hopeful firefighters could begin to control it sometime today.

Five shelters are still active in the county: Bastrop Middle School, Ascension Catholic Church in Bastrop, the Bastrop Community Outreach Center, the Elgin Family Worship Center and the Smithville Recreation Center.

Texas 71 East is still closed from Bastrop to Loop 153 in Smithville. Texas 21 East is closed to U.S. 290 near Paige, and Texas 21 West is closed from FM 535 to FM 1209.

McDonald said precautions were being taken to prevent houses that may have been damaged or that survived the fire from being broken into, with barriers on the roads and law enforcement patrols running in affected areas. He urged residents to respect the barriers and not try to sneak past, saying the fire was still very active and they had not yet had any reports of serious injuries and wanted to keep it that way.

McDonald also said that county along with state and federal agencies were putting together a plan to begin taking a damage assessment in order to let residents know which homes have burned. He said the county was working on a way to communicate that information to residents.

Mark Rose, general manager of Bluebonnet Electric, said the company was viewing 4,338 meters out. Rose said the outages were all related to the fire, even if some people without power are not in the path of the fire.

“Anything that can be turned back on has been turned back on,” Rose said. He also said the county would likely have thousands of people without power for several days before Bluebonnet could get in and repair the lines.

Donations are being accepted at the Rundell Business Park off Texas 71 west of Bastrop between the hours of 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. The Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance will coordinate the receipt and distribution of needed items from that location.

Bastrop ISD officials announced Tuesday morning that all school activities, including extra-curriculars, were canceled for Wednesday, Sept. 7.

Update 7:12 p.m.:

Aqua Water is asking all county residents to boil water before using it for drinking or cooking as a precaution.

Update 6:00 p.m.:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry traveled to Bastrop late Monday afternoon to survey the damage wreaked in the county by a massive wildfire estimated to have destroyed as many as 25,000 acres and 476 homes.

“I’ve seen a number of big fires,” Perry said. “This one’s as mean looking at I’ve ever seen.”

Perry said the state had deployed a number of its assets to help fight the fire, including 15 single-engine aircraft, two Chinook and four Blackhawk helicopters and C-130s. Tomorrow he hoped to call on Department of Defense assets from Ft. Hood, including some large bulldozers.

Perry said he expected officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to arrive by Wednesday, and that he would be putting in a renewed request to have Texas declared a federal disaster area.

Perry said there have been 3.5 million acres destroyed by wildfires in Texas since last December, an area roughly the size of Connecticut.

Before Perry spoke, County Judge Ronnie McDonald said the fire has now burned approximately 25,000 acres and has affected more than 476 homes since it started Sunday afternoon. Texas 71 from Bastrop to Smithville, Texas 21 from Texas 95 to U.S. 290 and FM 1441 from Texas 95 to Texas 21 remain closed.

Mark Rose, general manager of Bluebonnet Electric, said Bluebonnet showed 27 separate fire-related outages, and approximately 3,800 meters were showing out.

The county has issued a warning to boil water for homes in areas east of Texas 95, south of U.S. 290 and south of Texas 71.

Bastrop ISD and Smithville ISD schools will be closed tomorrow.

County emergency management coordinator Mike Fisher said the fire had grown considerably today, as fire officials predicted, due to strong winds and low humidity. Fisher said they were doing evacuations in the area of Texas 21 and Union Chapel for the Union Chapel fire going on in Cedar Creek, but that crews hoped to hold it at Texas 21. The Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management Facebook page says residents of the Martin’s Crossing neighborhood have been asked to leave due to spot fires on the south side that have been started by embers blown across the highway. An additional shelter has been set up at Cedar Creek Methodist Church.

Fisher also said that there was no longer any active fire south of the Colorado River. Crews were able to knock out the spot fires that had started across the river, and remained on duty across the river in order to respond to new fires.

Fisher said crews were not sure when residents would be allowed to return to their homes, but that they would not allow re-entry until they were absolutely sure it would be safe.

Update 2:10 p.m.:

County officials say the Bastrop County Animal Shelter is working to set up dog pens and water in the dog park behind Tractor Supply Company for people to bring animals that have evacuated, or who might be missing an animal that may have been picked up.

Update 12:33 p.m.:

Another fire is burning in Cedar Creek, forcing additional evacuations in that area.

Residents near Leisure Lane, Texas 21 and FM 1209, near Bluebonnet Acres from Texas 71 and on Pope Bend Road South to Texas 21 are being asked to evacuate from the fire. According to the radio, the fire may have jumped Texas 71.

High winds are also spreading the other fire east of Bastrop, and all residents of Tahitian Village are asked to evacuate now.

Update 11:00 a.m.:

Bastrop County emergency management officials said there would likely be more evacuations today to clear residents from the path of a major fire than has already consumed more than 14,000 acres and 300 homes, but that they were putting together a plan that would possibly allow some residents in affected areas to return to their homes and assess the damage later today or tonight.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” said county judge Ronnie McDonald.

Emergency management coordinator Mike Fisher said high wind conditions meant the fire was still burning too intensely at its head for firefighters to access the area and attempt to slow its progress. The county has called in support from heavy helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to dump water and fire retardant on the areas Fisher says “where firefighters simply cannot go.”

Fisher also said the danger was still too great to allow citizens to return to their homes, but that his emergency crews were working on plans and monitoring conditions to allow residents to reenter “as soon as the area becomes safe enough to do so.”

Fisher said his teams were in the process of putting together a new damage assessment that would include updated numbers of homes and acreage destroyed. Some reports from the Texas Forest Service estimated as many as 25,000 acres may be burned.

Texas Parks and Wildlife officials say that 2,000 to 3,000 acres of Bastrop State Park has burned already.

The county has two information lines for citizens to call and ask about the extent of the damage in their areas. The numbers are 332-8856 and 332-8814.

Bastrop ISD officials have announced that the district’s schools will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept 6.

Shelters have been set up at the Bastrop Middle School and Ascension Catholic Church in Bastrop, and at Grace Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church and the Smithville Recreation Center in Smithville.

The Office of Emergency Management Facebook Page says donation efforts to help fire victims are being coordinated by the Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance the donation hotline is 332-8977.

Another press conference with further updates is expected to be held in the late afternoon.

Update 10:15 p.m.:

A massive fire is still burning its way south through Bastrop County and shows no signs of slowing, county judge Ronnie McDonald said in a press conference at close to 9:45 p.m.

Emergency management officials said the area bounded by Watterson Road in the west, Easley Road in the east and FM 535 in the south is being evacuated.

McDonald asked residents to pray and pay attention to local media for updates tonight and tomorrow. County officials are still going door-to-door to inform residents of evacuations. Lexi Maxwell with the Texas Forest Service said people south of the fire’s current location should go ahead and pack essentials in case they need to evacuate. She also said if they saw embers or approaching fire, to go ahead and leave without waiting for the official word.

Five shelters have been set up in the county to take in evacuees, including at Bastrop Middle School on Old Austin Highway, Ascension Catholic Church on Water Street, First Baptist Church in Smithville, Grace Lutheran Church in Smithville and the Smithville Recreation Center. McDonald asked again that all evacuees check in at the shelter so they could attempt to get an accurate head count. He said approximately 400 people had already reported to the shelters.

Help to fight the fire is on the way tomorrow from the Texas Inter-Agency Mutual Aid System, county emergency management coordinator Mike Fisher said. They were bringing engines and dozers that were being deployed at Camp Swift for staging before tomorrow. Fisher said since neighboring counties had their own severe fire issues, the county was receiving support for coastal counties and other distant departments.

A separate fire in the region of the Colony subdivision is not yet contained, but Fisher was optimistic that firefighters would be able to get it under control soon.

Fisher said residents could also check the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management Facebook page for further updates.

EARLIER:

A fire in Bastrop County has consumed 14,000 acres, destroyed as many as 300 homes and is still 0 percent contained. It is one of several that are raging Sunday afternoon in Bastrop County, forcing residents from their homes in numerous neighborhoods and closing highways to traffic.

The initial fire started near Circle D Estates at around 2 p.m., county judge Ronnie McDonald said in a press conference Sunday evening. The blaze joined with a second fire that started off of U.S. 290, and the combined fire spread quickly southward, blown along by high winds that gusted up to 25 miles per hour. The fire jumped Texas 21 and Texas 71, forcing residents from Circle D, KC Estates, Pine View West, the Lake Bastrop areas, Tahitian Village, Colovista and Bastrop State Park, among others, to evacuate. Texas 21 and Texas 71 are shut down where they intersect with Texas 95 in Bastrop.

McDonald said the fire has destroyed close to 14,000 acres and was still moving south-southwest. McDonald said they believed the fire to be nearly 6 miles wide, and approximately 16 miles long. County officials estimated that 300 homes were destroyed, but McDonald said due to the fire’s aggressive behavior they haven’t been able to get in and do an accurate damage assessment.

A second fire was burning near FM 969 and Texas 71. The Colony subdivision is also being evacuated.

Four shelters have been set up in Bastrop County for those who have been evacuated. Bastrop Middle School, First Baptist Church in Smithville, Grace Lutheran Church in Smithville and the Smithville Recreation Center are accepting evacuees. McDonald said the county is asking even those people who are planning to stay with friends to sign it at the shelters, so they can get an accurate headcount of the evacuees.

Lexi Maxwell with the Texas Forest Service said the high winds and dry fuel meant the fire behavior was so extreme that crews were unable to get out in front of it and attempt to stop it. McDonald said three C-130s have dropped loads of fire retardant onto the fire.

At 3:45 p.m., Bastrop assistant fire chief Rod Stradling said, “We’re not fighting this fire at this point. We’re just evacuating people.” Maxwell said that was still the case, that most of the firefighting efforts were being done on the heel of the fire because crews had no way of safely accessing the head or the flanks. “It’s beyond our capacity,” Maxwell said.

Tomorrow’s forecast also calls for heavy winds due to the effects of the outskirts of Tropical Storm Lee, hitting the Gulf Coast.

Every fire department in the county is working the blaze, along with forces from the Texas National Guard, Texas Forest Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office, Bastrop Constable’s Office, Bastrop Police Department, LCRA and Bluebonnet.

Fire crews had to help several people from their homes in the path of the fire. Fire crews were heard to say over the radio, “Residents are going to have to leave or they’re going to be burned over.” At approximately 6:30 p.m., fire officials said they were still having difficulty convincing residents to leave their homes. Fire officials have had to abandon parts of Texas 21 to avoid being overrun by flames.

Jack Logsdon lives east of the intersection of Texas 21 and Cardinal Drive. He said he was away from home when the fire started, but once he got the news, he rushed home. “I got my dog back here at my house,” he said. “He’s my son, so I figured I better get home and guard him and my home.”

McDonald urged residents to evacuate. “We’re asking you to work with law enforcement,” he said. “Structures can be replaced.”

McDonald said plenty of county residents have been trying to call and ask about making donations or volunteering. McDonald asked that citizens refrain from doing so for tonight, as the county is still marshaling its resources to figure out how best to put those people or their contributions to work.

At one point, Stradling was heard to say “We’re in trouble because we can’t call in resources from other departments,” referring to several other fires that have been reported in the Central Texas area. Maxwell said as far as she knew the blaze moving across Bastrop County was the largest fire burning in Central Texas currently. The other fires, McDonald said, meant resources were being stretched thinly.