Three days after fires started to burn in Central Texas, Gov. Rick Perry today expressed frustration that federal firefighting support, including equipment from Fort Hood, has yet to make its way to the firefighters. Perry said the firefighters could use heavy equipment such as bulldozers to clear fire breaks.
“It’s more difficult than it should be,”he said. “When you have people hurting, when lives are in danger, I don’t care who owns the asset.”
While Fort Hood is battling its own large wildfire — a 3,700-acre blaze on an unoccupied section of the post jumped a fire line Monday night — that might not be the main obstacle.
It appears Perry’s request for aid is wending its way through the federal bureaucracy.
“Fort Hood officials are aware of a potential request for support,” Fort Hood spokesman Col. Ben Danner said in a statement. “Our officials are working closely with federal and state agencies to determine the courses of action available.”
According to Fort Hood officials, formal requests for military assistance must be made through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which would then funnel the request to the Department of Defense.
The state has provided a number of firefighting assets to blazes in Bastrop and around the state, according to Perry, including more than 30 airplanes and helicopters from the Texas Forest Service and Texas National Guard.
