An evacuation order was lifted shortly before 8 p.m. for a small area in Hays County west of Mountain City and Buda as multiple wildfires cropped up Tuesday.
Kyle Fire Lt. David Schultz said the winds died down and the Onion Creek Fire stopped spreading as quickly. By 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the fire had burned 80 acres and was 45% contained. Hays County Office of Emergency Services said no structures were affected.
Schultz said a cliffside along Onion Creek prevented the fire from spreading and threatening properties. He said helicopters put out hot spots that fire trucks had trouble accessing.
Now it's just a waiting game, he said.
" Active fire or embers, they're easier to see at night," he said. Firefighters "will sit on it most of tonight, and then they'll be here tomorrow just in case something kicks off."
Brad Burkhart, general manager of Sage Hill Inn & Spa, said his staff watched the fire progress from across the cliffside. When the fire got too close for comfort, he had his guests evacuate.
" We had every room booked," he said of the 20-room property. " We had some people getting massages and stuff. ... Sure enough, the time came and everybody grabbed their bags and quickly got out."
He said he worries about the possibility of a wildfire impacting his business nearly every year.
"This is Central Texas," he said. " That's always a possibility and it's always a risk."
Power outages in Austin
About 384 Austin Energy customers were still without power at 5:16 a.m. on Wednesday morning, down from about 31,000 on Tuesday afternoon. Austin Energy officials said the outages may have been caused by broken tree limbs and damaged electrical equipment as strong winds blew through the area.
In a post on X, Austin Energy said all available crews were in service and it was bringing on additional help to respond to the outages. A map of the outages is available here.
Because the outages are so widespread, the utility said, some customers will be without power into Wednesday. Austin Energy said it could not provide a time when power would be restored.
If you come across downed power lines, stay at least 30 feet away and call 911, the utility said. Don't drive over a power line, as the wires could get tangled in your vehicle, pulling down poles or other utility equipment.
The Austin area was at an extremely high risk of wildfires Tuesday with winds up to 55 mph and low humidity levels.
Austin's airport had more than 161 flights delayed Tuesday in large part because of the winds. The flight tracking site FlightAware reported 46 flights had been canceled.
Follow the latest tweets from the NWS below.
