GILLESPIE COUNTY, Texas — "It’s like a tinder box,” Willow City Volunteer Fire Chief Stanley Rabke said.
Rabke says containing the Big Sky Fire has been a 24-plus-hours battle.
"Not fun, let me tell you that,” Rabke said. “It's been unbelievable the amount of fire we had and the speed at which the fire traveled."
Rabke is a local land owner in the area with family ties dating back to the late 1800s. The blaze has taken two-thirds of his ranch and more than 1,400 acres across the region.
"It's grass and trees. Most of that stuff will grow back.” Rabke said. “Luckily, no one was really hurt."
However, thanks to more than 100 professional and volunteer firefighters from across Texas, as of Wednesday, 50% of the fire has been contained, and the hope is the spread is diminishing.
"That’s their motto. They want to help anyone they can,” Rabke said. "When you see the amount of people we had here yesterday and last night, it’s just overwhelming to see how great it was."
One of those brave volunteers, Rabke’s son-in-law, Brad Gilliam, traveled from Fort Worth to help fight the flames.
"This has become my second home and family is family. You have to take care of family first,” Gilliam said. "The response has been overwhelming, and the community's bringing water, Gatorade and food for people that were out here."
While several departments continue to try and hold the area, a bit of precipitation in the Lone Star State would go a long way.
"One day, it will rain. The state of Texas is going through a drought situation, as is the Hill Country” Gilliam said. “It will rain again, we’ll have grass again and it will be beautiful. We just have to get to it.”