As two pilots in scooper planes dropped water on wildfire hotspots at Johnson Ranch late Thursday afternoon, Brandon Gilbert, owner of Gilbert Construction in Poolville, was already working on a different kind of rescue.
“Try to love, show God’s love in a practical way,” Brandon Gilbert said.
Gilbert Construction, LLC is a Poolville-based construction and excavation company owned and operated by Brandon and Jennifer Gilbert. The company was established in 2018 and provides services including excavation, land clearing, dirt work, driveway installation, hauling and metal building construction. The company serves communities throughout Parker, Palo Pinto, Tarrant, and surrounding North Texas counties.
Gilbert recruited his best friend, Grant Mills, to help.
The two arrived in semis loaded with hay, knowing ranchers across the area needed help feeding their livestock.
“Walking outside and all the grass and all your green and all your everything that makes sure you’re living is gone. You know, it’s, uh, breaks your heart,” Gilbert said.
Minutes after watching the scooper planes attack the fire from above, Gilbert and Mills unloaded their hay. The Johnson Ranch location is also serving as a pickup point for other ranchers in need.
“It’s a good thing that, once again, you help your neighbor,” Mills said.
The relief comes as firefighters from across Texas battle flames that have already burned more than 81,000 acres. Firefighter strike teams moved throughout the county, responding to smoke clouds visible for miles. Rain clouds could also be seen Thursday afternoon, but they offered little relief from the flames. Emergency crews continued coordinated flyovers, hoping to slow and stop the wildfire, which firefighters say has been fueled by strong winds and dry conditions.
“It’s devastating, you know?” Gilbert said.
“The reality of how burnt, how hot these fires went through this whole area is where people live,” Mills said sharing why he’s monitoring the wildfire closely, “we live just south of the fires, and we got to keep an eye on it just in case the wind shifted because if it was blowing south at night, it might be in a different area, which would have been mine.”
The recovery for ranchers will not be easy, and every bit of help matters.
“Lot of sorrow involved when you come across situations like this,” said E. J. Dennis. He’s part of Rancher Navy, a group inspired by another disaster to help people in need.
Rancher Navy was founded on March 18, 2022, in response to devastating wildfires that swept across Central Texas and left agricultural communities to recover with too few hands. The organization streamlines logistics, communication, and resource management so help arrives quickly and goes exactly where it’s needed: rebuilding fences, recovering livestock, clearing debris, and standing alongside families as they put their lives back together. Not only can ranchers in need go to their website for help, but it’s also where supporters can make donations.
“I would work at down in the floods last year in Kerrville and they were living again. So that’s how I got involved,” Dennis said.
Gilbert and Mills believe the hay they are providing can make a difference for ranchers trying to save what they can.
“That’s how they make their living is off their cattle, so if they can’t eat, they can’t eat,” Gilbert said.
And just like the hundreds of firefighters battling the flames, they say they will keep helping until the fire is finally out.
