Florida Forest Service assists firefighters battling Game Preserve fire north of Huntsville

WALKER COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — The Florida Forest Service is assisting Texas firefighters as they enter day three of battling the Game Preserve fire north of Huntsville in Walker County.

As of Sunday morning, the wildfire is 40% contained after burning 4,245 acres of a wooded area just off FM-247, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

The forest services’ said its goal is to slow the spread of flames as much as possible.

On Saturday, SkyEye flew over the wildfire that grew 10 times its size since it was first ignited on Friday afternoon. At first, SkyEye couldn’t get close to the scene due to smoke clouding the sky.

The fire prompted officials to call for voluntary evacuations for everyone within three miles of Lost Indian Camp Road, as well as residents of Pinedale.

As of Saturday night, the areas under evacuation include the Cedar Ridge subdivision, Brimberry Road, and Brand for Christ Church.

Several roads are closed, including FM-247 between Pinedale, FM-2989, and the Gulf Freeway between FM-1696 and FM-2989.

The Texas A&M Forest Service told Eyewitness News that the weather conditions affected the fire risk in this area.

“It really is extreme drought in these places, and that has everything to do with the flammability of the forest. When the fire gets started, it’s going to grow, it’s going to move, it’s going to go up into the upper canopy of the trees. Fire conditions are red hot right now, and that’s why we want everybody to be very careful with anything that could put off sparks or be hot or have flame outside. Please just don’t do it right now,” Daniel Patterson, with the forest service, said.

Patterson said there are more than a hundred firefighters on the ground, working to try and control these flames.

The smoky haze can be seen and smelled from miles away.

At this time, the cause of this fire is still under investigation, and officials haven’t disclosed if any homes have been lost.

SkyEye video from Saturday shows air operations dropped loads of water as crews worked to contain the fire.

On Friday, at 4:21 p.m., the fire was estimated at 100 acres. More than an hour later, the fire grew to 500 acres and stretched to 1,000 acres at 7:37 p.m.

At 9 p.m., the Game Preserve fire burned about 1,200 acres and was 10% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Early Saturday morning, 10% was still contained, but the fire spanned across 3,000 acres, the forest service said.

At about 8:30 a.m., officials told ABC13 the fire was 20% contained, but it continued to spread another 800 acres by 12 p.m.

Officials revealed the fire had expanded to 4,300 acres at about 4 p.m..

The Texas A&M Forest Service posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, at 8:51 p.m., saying the wildfire grew to 4,245 acres and was 40% contained.