Much can change in one week. Students returned to school last week in the wake of the worst wildfire in Texas state history, many of them now displaced or homeless. Though the fires charred tens of thousands of acres in Bastrop County, an area 25 miles east of Austin, the reopening of schools provided some normalcy to hundreds of affected families.
Bastrop Independent School District has been keeping its parents posted on revised school bus routes and other developments via its website since the fire flared up on Labor Day.
Yellow school buses are picking up displaced students at local motels, where so many families have resided since losing their homes to either the fire or Tropical Storm Lee. Also, the district is providing breakfast and lunch to students who have gone without power and electricity, along with aid in the areas of counseling, clothing, food and missing pets.
So far 1,554 homes are confirmed to have been destroyed by the Bastrop fire, and two people are confirmed dead. The tally of burned homes ranks this wildfire as one of the nation’s most destructive.
As firefighters try to control the blaze, schools are operating as usual, with relatively stable attendance. Spokesman Donald Williams verified that only 6 percent of students district-wide were absent the day schools reopened — just slightly higher than the typical 4 percent seen before this event. Bastrop ISD serves the cities of Bastrop, Cedar Creek, Red Rock, Rockne and Paige.
More good news came when the 5,000 residents displaced by the record-breaking fire were told they could see their property by Wednesday.
To boost spirits during a tough week, the school district invited the Bastrop community to come together for a Thursday night football game between Bastrop and San Marcos. During halftime, the district honored and recognized all of the first responders, volunteer fire departments, law enforcement agencies, Texas Forest Service, city and county officials and volunteers that have helped with the Bastrop Complex Fire.
