Shelby County Today

November 8, 2022 - Mayor O'Neal Jones, Jr. has lifted the burn ban for the City of Tenaha effective November 2, 2022 at 10am. 

October 25, 2022 - The City of Tenaha has issued a declaration of disaster and order prohibiting outdoor burning. The declaration and order read as follows: (Click here for original)

WHEREAS the City of Tenaha is under imminent threat of sever damage, injury of loss of life or property resulting from the threat of wildfires due to extremely dry grassland fuel, drought, and other weather-related conditions; and

Whereas The Mayor of the City of Tenaha has determined that to mitigate the hazard posed by wildfires during the current dry conditions, extraordinary measure must be taken to alleviate the suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED BY THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF TENAHA:
1. That a local state of disaster is hereby proclaimed for The City of Tenaha pursuant to 418.108 (a) of the Texas Government Code.

2. This Declaration of a local state of disaster shall continue for a period of not more than (30) thirty days from the date of this declaration unless continued or renewed by the City Council of The City of Tenaha.

3. All outdoor burning is prohibited in the incorporated areas of The City of Tenaha.
This Order does not prohibit outdoor burning activities carried out by Federal Certified Agencies.

4. This Declaration of shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filed promptly with the City Secretary of The City of Tenaha.

5. This Declaration of the local state of disaster activates the City of Tenaha Emergency Management Plan.
This Proclamation shall take effect immediately from and after its issuance; Ordered This 24th Day of October 2022

WHEREAS, the City of Tenaha is under imminent threat of severe damage, injury of loss of life or property resulting from the threat of wildfires due to extremely dry grassland fuel drought and other weather-related conditions; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor of the City of Tenaha has determined that to mitigate the hazard posed by wildfires during the current dry conditions, extraordinary measures must be taken t alleviate the suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED BY THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF TENAHA:
1. That a local state of disaster is hereby proclaimed to the City of Tenaha pursuant to 418.108 (a) of the Texas Government Code.

2. This declaration of a local state of disaster shall continue for a period of not more that (30) thirty days from the date of this declaration unless continued or renewed by the Mayor of the City of Tenaha.

3. All outdoor burning is prohibited in the incorporated areas of the City of Tenaha.
This Order does not prohibit outdoor burning activities carried out by Federal Certified Agencies.

4. This Declaration of hall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filed promptly with the City Secretary of the City of Tenaha.

5. This Declaration of the local state of disaster activates the City of Tenaha Emergency Management Plan.

This proclamation shall take effect immediately from and after its issuance; Order this 24th day of October, 2022.

November 7, 2022 - Over the week of October 30 through November 5th the Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department responded to 3 separate pages. Here’s a summary of the weeks events.

On Monday morning a page was received for a semi trailer turned on its side at the intersection of Highway 7 and Highway 84 East. The tractor trailer had been carrying a load of cardboard bales and tipped over after making the turn on to Highway 7. Luckily, the truck remained upright after the accident and the driver was unharmed. The JVFD provided traffic control until the tractor trailer could be removed from the roadway, and TxDOT cleared the remaining debris.

Next on Saturday morning, a call came in for a tree touching a power line on FM 2787. The line was not broken but it was still live causing the tree to smoke and occasionally flare up with fire. The electric company was notified, but due to many crews being busy fixing outages from the previous nights storms, it would take some time for a crew to respond. The JVFD remained on site for about an hour before clearing the scene.

Saturday night another call would be received, this time for heavy smoke near a residence on Highway 7 East. Upon arriving, the Joaquin VFD was able to determine that the smoke was coming from a burn pile at another residence beside the callers. With the burn ban lifted, and the fire not posing an immediate threat to any homes or property, the scene was cleared.

Two other pages were received throughout the week but were recalled shortly after, one due to being out of jurisdiction and the other due to the JVFDs mutual aid not being required.

With that, this report will come to a close. The Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department hopes everyone has a great and safe week ahead.

November 5, 2022 - U.S. Highway 96 near CR 4350 was the scene of a major two-vehicle crash November 3, 2022.

Emergency personnel with multiple agencies responded to the scene to assist those involved i the incident. Center Fire Department personnel utilized Jaws-of-Life to help emergency medical services personnel extricate the driver and passenger from one of the vehicles involved.

According to Texas Department of Public Safety State Trooper Dustin Ramos, at 1:30pm a white and blue 2014 Ford van driven by Gavin Davis, 23, for Whitaker Equipment, Inc. out of Carthage was southbound on U.S. Highway 96 in the inside lane near CR 4350. At that time a blue 1997 Honda CR-V driven by Robert Chambliss, 65, of Tenaha was also southbound in the same lane in front of Davis.

As the Honda slowed to make a left hand turn into a private drive with its left turn signal activated, the Ford failed to control speed and struck the Honda which caused the van to overturn and come to rest in the southbound shoulder on its driver's side. The Honda came to rest in the same location, upright and on the edge of the roadway.

Robert Chambliss and his passenger Barbara Chambliss, 64, of Tenaha were both transported by ambulance to Nacogdoches Medical Center - Shelby Emergency Department for possible treatment.

No injuries were reported of Davis or his passenger Marco Gonzalez Arcivar, 22.

A citation was issued to Davis for failure to control speed.

Shelby County Sheriff's Department, Taylor Fanguy - Shelby County Constable Precinct 4, and Scott Burkhalter - Tenaha Police Chief, assisted at the scene with traffic control to prevent further crashes from occurring.

November 4, 2022 - Tornado Watch outline update for WT 561 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman, OK 5:35pm CDT Friday, November 4, 2022.

Tornado Watch 561 is in effect until 12am CDT for the following locations:

Texas Counties Included are:
Angelina, Bowie, Brazos, Burleson, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Franklin, Gregg, Grimes, Harrison, Houston, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Panola, Polk, Red River, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby Smith, Titus, Trinity, Upshur, Walker, Washington, Wood.