Overview
- The Old Trails Fire ignited around noon on Saturday and raced through brush and neighborhoods under strong gusts, triggering Level 3 “go now” evacuation orders for thousands of residents.
- By Saturday night the blaze had grown to roughly 3,000–3,509 acres with zero containment reported and crews warning that gusty winds and low humidity were driving extreme fire behavior.
- Officials ordered broad evacuations and opened shelters while critical facilities—including a VA medical center, water treatment and waste‑energy plants—were evacuated and thousands of homes lost power during public‑safety shutoffs.
- Governor Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and a burn ban, activated the Washington National Guard, and used the Emergency Management Assistance Compact to bring crews from more than a dozen states and international teams to the region.
- The fire is unfolding inside an unusually severe statewide season—more than 1,000 blazes and roughly 250,000–425,000+ acres burned so far—which is stretching resources and raising the risk of further rapid growth and more evacuations in the coming days.