’A big firecracker’: Fire during Hill Country rocket test leads to evacuations

BRIGGS — At least one major road was shut down and nearby homes were ordered evacuated Wednesday night after a “possible explosion” at an aerospace facility in this rural community 50 miles northwest of Austin.

The fire ignited during a test at the Firefly Aerospace facility in Briggs and was extinguished quickly, the company said on Facebook. No one was hurt, according to Firefly Aerospace representatives.

Firefly, which is headquartered in Cedar Park, provides launch vehicles, spacecraft and space services. In 2018, NASA named Firefly as one of nine companies competing to help the space agency return to the moon.

NASA is planning to use the trips as a testing ground before it moves ahead with similar missions to Mars.

“During testing this evening, we experienced a test anomaly resulting in a small fire on our test stand,” the company announced on Facebook. “The fire was quickly extinguished by our fire suppression systems on the stand, and the local community emergency response team quickly responded.”

Firefly, which maintains the 200-acre manufacturing and test facility in Burnet County, 27 miles north of its headquarters in Williamson County, said both the test stand and the rocket were intact.

“At no time was there any risk to individuals on site or the community,” the company’s statement said. “We apologize for any inconvenience caused, and we will be working with the local emergency response team to ensure that the local community is kept aware of actions in a timely manner.”

Firefly said it will host a “community day” in the future to explain what happened and to answer any questions.

Alex Ellis, a cashier at J&J Market in Briggs, said he was working when the incident happened Wednesday night. The convenience store is less than a half-mile away from the facility.

"It sounded like a big firecracker," Ellis said. He walked outside and saw a flame coming from the testing tower at the facility.

"I was just stunned," he said. "I never thought it would happen."

Some nearby residents said Thursday they have had issues with the facility before. Chris Eaton said engine tests had been performed late at night, including one until midnight on a school night.

“When they test, it shakes the windows in my house,” he said. “It’s very annoying and has woken my kids up in the past.”

After people complained, he said, the company said it would not test after 8 p.m., he said.

Donald Zerber and his wife, Martha, who live at the Briggs RV Park, said the testing is too noisy and that they are afraid any future fire at the facility could spread quickly through the fields to their mobile home a half-mile away. “We would lose everything,” Donald Zerber said.

But Oakalla Volunteer Fire Department Chief Aaron Weeks said it’s unlikely a fire would spread that quickly because his department has two fire trucks stationed less than 2 miles from the facility. Fourteen Oakalla firefighters responded to the fire Wednesday night, he said, but by the time they arrived it was under control.

One hundred people were evacuated from the business, as well as residents within a one-mile radius, Weeks said. Residents who weren’t notified probably had not signed up for the reverse 911 system, he said.

Firefly has not allowed firefighters to train at its facility but has now approved it since the Wednesday fire, Weeks said.

Rodney Pearson, another Briggs RV Park resident, said he has always been enthusiastic about having Firefly as a neighbor.

“I’ve been a space buff since I was little,” he said. “They are trying to do something important.”

The company said it was testing its Alpha launch vehicle; Wednesday’s test was to be the first in a series of propulsion tests and involved a short, 5-second firing of the stage’s four engines.

At 6:23 p.m., the stage’s engines were ignited, and a fire broke out in the engine bay at the base of the rocket’s stage, according to the company. The cause of the incident is under investigation, the company said.

“Firefly engineers are reviewing test data from the stage to identify potential causes for the test failure, and Firefly will share results of that investigation once it is complete,” the company reported.

“Firefly is committed to workplace safety, and at no time during the test were Firefly operations personnel or the public in danger,” the statement continued. “Firefly is coordinating closely with local authorities and emergency response personnel as it investigates the anomaly and refines its contingency procedures.”

The sheriff’s office was informed at 6:24 p.m. “that a possible explosion had occurred,” sheriff’s officials wrote on Facebook. Oakalla firefighters requested the evacuation, the closure of U.S. 183 in the Briggs area and of nearby county roads, and the activation of reverse 911 phone calls, sheriff’s officials said.

Messages left with Firefly were not returned Thursday.

Jim Barho, Burnet County emergency management coordinator, said he could not confirm an explosion but he could confirm that there was a fire.

Barho said the fire was likely due to a gas leak on some of their equipment. “What I was told was that a fitting was loose and leaking,” he said.

He said the fire was contained by staff at the facility. But when first responders arrived at the scene, they decided to evacuate a wider area as a precaution.

“Remember this Firefly Aerospace has jet fuel and whatever other material it tests rockets with,” he said.

Because first responders “weren’t sure if there was any pending danger,” he said, they decided to evacuate a one-mile radius around the facility.

At 7:06 p.m., the sheriff’s office ordered a reverse-911 call to 55 homes and businesses within a mile.

Barho said the county got only 10 confirmed answered calls. At least 40 or the 55 homes or businesses didn’t have registered telephone numbers.

“This was a classic example of an emergency that could be really bad in the community, but we have no way of reaching folks,” Barho said. “In rural areas, houses are not real close together. You can’t run up and down the street telling people to evacuate.”

He encouraged people to register their cellphones through their county’s or sheriff’s office websites.

Barho said that “a lot of companies” voluntarily submit the plan they have for emergencies — such a plan includes facility safety features, an evacuation plan and emergency contact numbers.

He said Firefly had not submitted such a plan to his office.

The area was declared safe at 9:25 p.m., when officials reopened the roads.

Yesterday evening we attempted to hotfire test the Alpha first stage for the first time. Unfortunately, after the four Reaver engines ignited, an engine bay fire developed (flame jet to the left in video). The system immediately shut itself down and the fire was quickly pic.twitter.com/YGYcEshrd9

— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) January 23, 2020