Large Fire at Sycamore Creek, Less Than 20 Miles Away from Del Rio

View from top of Eagle Pass Hill, looking SW towards Sycamore Creek. A dust cloud mostly obscures the smoke plume, but you can see a distinct column rising out of the center of the storm.  

There is more than dust clouding our air today, smoke is also in the mix. A “very large fire” has been reported along Sycamore Creek, at a location less than 20 miles away from Del Rio, somewhere between here and Eagle Pass. Val Verde County Fire & Rescue Chief Jorge Vargas confirmed the fire to Connect Del Rio this afternoon. He was there on site at “Moody Ranch." Vargas rushed off the phone and said, “if you look south toward Eagle Pass, you can see the plume of smoke.”

Sycamore Creek is southeast of Del Rio. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Del Rio has a Level 3 “Extremely Critical” Fire Weather Outlook for today, Tuesday 3/4/2025. NWS issued a High Wind Warning earlier this morning that Val Verde County will be facing “West winds 35 to 45 mph, with gusts up to 55 mph.” Winds are expected to last through Saturday. West winds blow from the west towards the east. The direction of the wind lowers the risk for the city of Del Rio because of our geographic positioning. However, the prevailing wind is headed straight towards Brackettville.

The fire reportedly started 2-3 days ago, burned about 200-300 acres, and was controlled. Today’s winds appear to have stirred things back up, and now significantly more acreage has been affected. Val Verde County firefighters and officials are busy on site actively fighting the fire.

As of 5pm on 3/5/2025, Val Verde County Fire & Rescue officials were unavailable for an official update as they are likely still monitoring fire conditions in the area. Meteorologist Alexander Menchaca checked into the live radar, identifying a small hot spot near Sycamore Creek. It is barely a hot spot, displaying as green on the thermal scale. Any visible thermal trails or yellow on the radar from yesterday's spreading wildfire had completely disappeared. Radar evidence suggests the fire response team successfully contained the wildfire and are actively maintaining control of its boundaries. Confirmation from Val Verde County Fire & Rescue is pending. 

View from top of Eagle Pass Hill, looking NE towards the city of Del Rio. A subtle dust cloud is still visible on the horizon, but the skies above are blue with no visible evidence of smoke.

Radar image provided by CDR Meteorologist, Alexander Menchaca.