Central Texas Wildfires: A Week of Images

Photos by Raymond Thompson Jr., Reshma Kirpalani, and Lizzie Chen for Reporting Texas and KUT News

On Sept. 4, a Sunday afternoon, wildfires broke out all across Central Texas. High winds and low humidity created the perfect conditions for disaster. The fires in Steiner Ranch and Leander were contained by Tuesday, but the Bastrop fire ravaged more than 34,000 acres of land and destroyed more than 1,500 homes. By week’s end, the fire was still only 50 percent contained. Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate and find safety in emergency shelters. Many remain homeless. Residents were expected to return to Bastrop’s burned areas on Monday, Sept. 12.