Residents Evacuate as Wildfire Burns in Northwestern Louisiana

October 15, 2015

Authorities say a series of wildfires have burned more than two square miles in northwestern Louisiana and threatened homes.

Louisiana State Police said in a statement that the fires started Tuesday afternoon in Bienville Parish. KTBS-TV reports dozens of residents in a community called Sheppard Town, about 40 east of Shreveport, had to evacuate. The American Red Cross is assisting.

State Police say the fire also threatened a stretch of railroad track in the Liberty Hill community. One train that included a tanker containing hazardous materials was forced to stop. The statement said hazmat technicians were working to move the train to keep the tanker’s materials from becoming heated and volatile.

The National Weather Service in Shreveport has issued a fire warning for northern Bienville Parish and southern Webster Parish.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Louisiana Wildfire

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