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Perry Surveys North Texas Wildfire Damage
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AP
Gov. Rick Perry on Friday stepped over mounds of twisted metal and other debris around the shell of a stone house ravaged by a recent wildfire, calling it "the most vicious" he's ever seen.
Perry also looked at the remnants of a flattened mobile home, a burned-out car and blackened tree trunks as he discussed the damage with officials in Montague County, one of the areas hardest hit by wildfires a week ago.
"What I did see was in Stoneburg -- the most vicious fire that I have ever seen in my life," Perry said later at the fire station in Montague. He said knowing how to comfort victims was difficult, because "'I'm sorry' seems such inadequate words as you walk through the remains of someone's home and then when you think about the lives that were lost."
Several April 9 blazes in Montague County killed three people and destroyed 76 homes while scorching more than 60,000 acres, local officials said.
Perry thanked local volunteer firefighters and those who came from 40 departments to help battle the blazes in the rural North Texas county.
"Some of you risked your lives to take care of your friends, and that's the type of investment in a community that is all too rare in the world we live in today," he said.
Perry said he hoped Montague and other counties devastated by wildfires would not have to wait on federal assistance. He said he has asked President Barack Obama for an emergency disaster declaration for 199 Texas counties and for a major disaster declaration for six North Texas counties.
This year blazes across the state have burned more than 424,000 acres and destroyed more than 200 homes -- most of the damage done in a few dry, windy days more than week ago.
"In times like these we start out as a community, but we end up as a family," said Thomas Fenoglio, chief of the Montague Volunteer Fire Department.
When asked by a reporter if he was surprised by the widespread media coverage after his remarks about secession at an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday, Perry said the "real story" is that scores of Americans stood up to protest excessive federal spending and bailouts.
On Wednesday Perry suggested that Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede, although he never advocated that Texas break away from the United States. On Friday, Perry reiterated that he doesn't see why any Texan would want to secede.
"What I do think Texans want is their federal government to pay attention. They want them to send the money to Montague County to take care of the losses that have happened here," Perry said. "They want to see a federal government that is responsive to our needs and not just up there spending dollars ... without any plan, it appears, other than let's throw a bunch of money at the problem and see if any of it helps."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Dallas / Fort Worth Local News
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