Number of Homes Destroyed by Texas Fire to Rise

Authorities say they expect the number of homes destroyed by a massive Texas wildfire to increase from the nearly 1,400 they’ve already tallied.

Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald said Saturday that crews haven’t had an opportunity to go in and count homes in some areas because of smoldering hot spots.

Authorities have said that nearly 1,400 homes have been destroyed by the wildfire that has been raging for a week in and around Bastrop, a city near Austin.

A spokesman for the team of federal, state and local agencies responding to the fire also said the number was expected to rise.

Spokesman Bruce Prud’homme also says the wildfire is now 50 percent contained, up from the 40 percent figure announced earlier Saturday.