Images of the fire taken by YNN's Russell Wilde.
In an area that is currently facing an extreme drought, "wildfire" is one of the last words you want to hear when you wake up on Friday morning. But that's exactly what happened today in Wimberley, a small town with a vibrant artistic community that is less than an hour's drive from Austin.
The Hays County Sheriff's office told KUT News that a fire broke out at around 4 o'clock this morning on the 2100 block of Flite Acres Road near the Blanco River. One building was destroyed and two were damaged, KXAN reports.
Wimberley Mayor Bob Flocke said that once the fire on the balcony started, a woman jumped from the second floor to escape. The woman's husband apparently was unsure where his wife was and stayed inside to look for her, Flocke said. Both were taken to the hospital.
KVUE's Jade Mingus says in this report that fire officials believe the blaze may have started because people were grilling on a second floor balcony of the home that was destroyed.
Coincidentally, the City of Austin announced this morning that it is banning grilling and smoking cigarettes in all public parks because of the ultra-dry conditions.
The drought has been a topic of much conversation on this Wimberley community forum. For example, user johnhiggins fretted over low flows into the Colorado River.
It's not my imagination - everything out there is drier than ever. Even the small cedar trees have turned their toes up. I've never seen it this bad.
