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More Texas Wildfires

Sep 6, 2011 |

Tropical Storm Lee passed near Texas over the weekend, bringing its strong winds to the state, but none of its much-needed rain. The strong gusts fanned some 60 separate wildfires across the drought-stricken region, destroying more than 1,000 homes, forcing more than 5,000 people to evacuate, and killing at least two people. Especially hard-hit has been Bastrop County, about 25 miles from the city of Austin, where a 30,000 acre fire still burns uncontained. Collected here are some of the scenes from around Texas, where residents continue to struggle with a long drought and wildfires that have burned 3.6 million acres since November 2010. See earlier entry Texas Wildfires, from April, 2011. [39 photos]

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Flames engulf a road near Bastrop State Park as a wildfire burns out of control near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone)

A series of large wildfires head east, approaching Bastrop, Texas, on Highway 71, on September 5, 2011. A roaring wildfire raced unchecked Monday through rain-starved farm and ranchland in Texas, during a rapid advance fanned in part by howling winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. (AP Photo/Erich Schlegel) #

A tanker airplane drops fire retardant on a wildfire on September 1, 2011 in Graford, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #

Bastrop County resident John Raworth and his two dogs watch as a wildfire jumps the street in their central Texas neighborhood on Monday, September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/The Daily Texan, Trent Lesikar) #

A destroyed washer and dryer remain in the rubble of a structure left by a wildfire on August 31, 2011 near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron Jenkins) #

A member of the Cushing V.F.D. fights a brush fire that started when a car caught fire on September 5, 2011 in Nacogdoches, Texas. (AP Photo/ Daily Sentinel, Dustin Anderson) #

A utility pole burns during the wildfires, on August 31, 2011 near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron Jenkins) #

Remnants of a burned out home off Highway 71 near Bastrop, Texas as a series of large wildfires continue to burn on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Erich Schlegel) #

A Maud, Texas firefighter closes his eyes to avoid fire debris while battling a 7,000 acre fire in southern Cass County, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/The Texarkana Gazette, Christena Dowsett) #

This aerial photo shows charred land and burned homes near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, on September 1, 2011. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ian McVea) #

Helicopters drop water as a wildfire burns near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, on September 1, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

A herd of longhorn cattle stand as a wildfire rages nearby on September 1, 2011, in Graford, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #

Clarence Hoffman (left) and his son, Allen Hoffman, battle ground flames, trying to prevent the fire from advancing to the home of Patrick McAlister as a wildfire burns out of control near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

Firefighters from around the state battle a large wildfire on Highway 71 near Smithville, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Erich Schlegel) #

A nozzle on the front end of a Lone Camp Volunteer fire fighters truck while fighting a wildfire on September 1, 2011 in Graford, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #

Flames roar near Bastrop State Park as a wildfire burns out of control near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

Firefighters from the Coppell Fire Department watch as an S-64 Skycrane helicopter drops a fire retardant to help contain a wildfire burning through parts of Cedar Creek, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa/The Daily Texan) #

Ashes float through the air as a wildfire burns out of control near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

Mike Hester of Henderson County holds a a cat he rescued from a burned out area in The Cliffs, on August 31, 2011, near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron Jenkins) #

Smoke from a 300-acre wildfire in Magnolia, Texas, on September 5, 2011. Nearly 8,000 residents were evacuated from the area. (AP Photo/The Courier, Karl Anderson) #

A wildfire jumps a fire line on September 1, 2011 in Graford, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #

The smoldering remains of a house near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

Flames and smoke rise from above the trees as a wildfire burns near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, on September 1, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

A cloud of smoke rises from a wildfire as it burns out of control near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

Ajay Bryan watches on as local firefighters and police attempt to move downwind of the blaze and halt its progress in Cedar Creek, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/The Daily Texan, Thomas Allison) #

A helicopter flies over a wildfire near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

Lone Camp Volunteer Fire Department fire fighter Joe Crawford fights a wildfire on September 1, 2011 in Graford, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #

An air tanker drops fire retardant on a fire in The Cliffs development, on August 31, 2011, near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron Jenkins) #

A fallen tree still burns after a fire swept through Bastrop State Park, Texas on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

A volunteer firefighter reacts as a wildfire jumps a fire line on September 1, 2011 in Graford, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #

A tanker airplane drops fire retardant on a wildfire on September 1, 2011 in Graford, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #

Firefighters from around the state battle a large wildfire on Highway 71 near Smithville, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Erich Schlegel) #

Wildfires burn on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 near Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron Jenkins) #

A helicopter drops water on a wildfire, on September 5, 2011, near Bastrop, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) #

A large wildfire on Highway 71 near Smithville, Texas, on September 5, 2011 burns piles of lumber and ranch posts. (AP Photo/Erich Schlegel) #

Patrick McAlister tries to douse ground flames with a water hose to combat the advancing flames as a wildfire burns out of control near Bastrop, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Stone) #

Firefighters from Smithville Fire Department battle a large wildfire on Highway 71 near Smithville, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Erich Schlegel) #

A helicopter drops water onto a blaze in Cedar Creek, Texas on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/The Daily Texan, Thomas Allison) #

Patricia Bloodworth-Neville embraces her daughter Bailey Neville, 12, while watching a wildfire consume land around their home in the Bluebonnet Acres in Bastrop County, Texas, on September 5, 2011. (AP Photo/The Daily Texan, Trent Lesikar) #