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Tomorrow Marks One Year Since Central Texas Wildfires

Lea Luchsinger
Smoke filled the skyline as wildfires broke out across Central Texas last Labor Day weekend.

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the Central Texas wildfires.

Thousands of people were forced out of their homes last Labor Day weekend by the massive wildfires and clouds of black smoke.

The fires went on to claim two lives and destroy more than 1,600 homes and thousands of acres of land.

Chris Barron is the Executive Director of the State Firemen’s & Fire Marshals' Association. He recalls getting the first notification about a fire in Pflugerville.

"We sent a brush truck from my fire department up there and a tender, a water tender up there, and, next thing you know, Spicewood had a major fire also and then Steiner Ranch had a major fire and so it was just back to back to back," Barron says.

KUT News is looking back on the fires with a special one-hour feature tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. Below, you can watch a trailer for "Forged in Flames: An Oral History of the Labor Day Wildfires."

Laura first joined the KUT team in April 2012. She now works for the statewide program Texas Standard as a reporter and producer. Laura came to KUT from the world of television news. She has worn many different hats as an anchor, reporter and producer at TV stations in Austin, Amarillo and Toledo, OH. Laura is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, a triathlete and enjoys travel, film and a good beer. She enjoys spending time with her husband and pets.
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