Rural residents of southeast Coleman County  heard a knock on their door Thursday evening.  Coleman County law enforcement officers were going door to door near County Road 203, Whon and Trickham communities, telling them to be ready to evacuate.  The massive Gate 5 Fire was approaching the Colorado River southeast of the small community of Whon.

According to the Texas A&M Forest Service late Thursday night, the fire is 30% contained and has burned an estimated 10,000 acres.  The Forest Service also reported FM 765 is reported as closed for the safety of firefighters and the public.

Numerous fire departments from Brown and Coleman counties have joined other counties in the ground fight while overhead were seen large firefighting airplanes flying in and out of the thick smoke.

The fire also created its own weather as a pyrocumulus cloud formed right above the flames which one fire department estimated being 100 feet tall.