Nolke Fire burns 3,000 acres of ranch land west of San Angelo, crews still battling blaze

IRION COUNTY — Smoke from the Nolke Fire could be seen drifting south of San Angelo on Tuesday evening as firefighters continued to battle the 3,000-acre blaze burning approximately 20 miles west of the city in Irion County.

As of 8:30 p.m., the fire was reported to be 10 percent contained.

Weldon Dent, Public Information Officer for the Texas A&M Forest Service, said resources fighting the fire included bulldozers, fire engines, six single-engine air tankers, one helicopter performing bucket drops of water and a larger tanker out of Austin dropping fire retardant.

Dent said the forest service received a call about the fire at approximately 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Some structures were threatened by the fire, but Dent said there were no reports of damage. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

The forest service has responded to inquiries regarding the name of the fire. Officials say the blaze should have been named the 'Noelke Fire' in reference to the location but was misspelled by the forest service. The official name of the blaze will continue to be the Nolke Fire.