For Sand Branch residents, having access to clean, running water has been a distant dream for decades.
In the small, unincorporated community just a few miles southeast of downtown Dallas, the well water isn’t safe to drink, according to recent UT Arlington research. Bottled water donated by nonprofits and other aid groups fills the gap.
Basic amenities like sewage, trash pickup and water infrastructure are minimal or nonexistent, although residents say they pay Dallas County taxes like anyone else.
On Aug. 29, a major fire broke out at a Sand Branch dumping ground. Residents didn’t have a way to put it out, so fire crews came in from neighboring areas, trucking in water from miles away. Hot spots continued to ignite days after the blaze was contained.
Smoldering debris
North Texas is in a drought, with no measurable rainfall at DFW Airport in almost two months. It shows in Sand Branch.
On a stiflingly hot, early September morning, local activists Christina Parks and Derek Avery were out early to receive donations and speak to reporters. Orange dust kicked up behind them when they drove down the community’s dirt roads. As they crossed yards, grass crunched underfoot.
Amid the drought, Sand Branch residents have been dealing with other small fires throughout the summer. But the Aug. 29 fire was by far the most intense, bringing in firefighting crews from Dallas, Combine, Wilmer, Terrell and more.
“You shouldn't have to have 15 fire departments come out here and risk their lives and have to bring specialized equipment, tanker trucks, and go fill up away from the fire, to come put out a fire,” Avery said. “I don't see any clearer sign that we should have permanent infrastructure here.”
Avery co-founded the Water for Sand Branch Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group. The coalition has spent the last three years helping with on-the-ground donation drives and drafting proposed legislation on behalf of Sand Branch.
The group’s website states that they want to make Sand Branch an “innovation hub” with affordable housing, a community center, historic land markers and opportunities for retail businesses to come in.
While not a Sand Branch resident himself, Avery is considered a community leader and a friend to those who live there.
Parks has been raising her family in Sand Branch for four years. She runs a nonprofit food pantry and thrift store out of her home, serving other residents seven days a week. She’s joked in past interviews that she's been called the “Mayor of Sand Branch.”
“Our fire department, our fire marshals, they spend a lot of time in this community anyway and they're really, really good to us," Parks said. "The firemen were amazing, the sheriffs were amazing. The first night was a little crazy, you know, but we appreciate everything they did for us.”
The site that caught fire was a dumping ground containing a massive amount of trash, including abandoned vehicles.
Now it’s a field of charred junk and ash.
A twisted metal frame showed the outline of what used to be a camper. A speedboat was disintegrating from keel to hull, gnawed upward by flame. The stench was overpowering – a pungent combination of burnt organic and chemical waste.
Most of the site burned during the Aug. 29 fire, but not nearby homes. No one was hurt, although multiple residents were evacuated in the process. They have since come home.
But while surveying the land, Avery and Parks spotted something as alarming as it was familiar: a thin column of white smoke, snaking its way out from under a pile of debris.
Avery called 911. Parks stood nearby and scanned the site for anything else out of place. Neither seemed particularly nervous watching the smoke thicken and bloom. After all, they’d been doing this for days.
With fire crews on the way and phone still in hand for livestreaming, Avery explained the bond proposal his group put together to bring resources to Sand Branch. He rarely took his eyes off the smoke.
“We wrote it ourselves because a lot of times we ask government to do things. But really, sometimes we have to do it ourselves and get them just to act,” he said.
Avery submitted the Ken Wright Dallas County Essential Infrastructure Bond proposal to the Dallas County Commissioners’ Court earlier this summer. The bond covers $22 million total in proposed fund usage, with $12.5 million earmarked for Sand Branch and other south Dallas County communities. About two thirds of the $12.5 million would go to water and sewage infrastructure. The final third would go to a resident assistance fund.
“It helps people not get taxed out of their properties while we're waiting for permanent infrastructure, but also for people who are on fixed incomes and legacy residents,” Avery explained. “A lot of them can't afford a new water bill.”
Within minutes of Avery placing the 911 call, a firefighting crew was on site with shovels, moving dirt to suffocate the budding flame. They brought in water not long afterward and doused the embers that remained.
In the aftermath
Parks recalled the sense of fear that gripped the community during the Aug. 29 fire. She snapped photos that night showing a wall of black smoke climbing far above the tree line.
“It was scary because you see people that you love, they're worried about their homes,” Parks said.
She said she spent the night checking up on residents and helping them evacuate.
“Everybody was crying and screaming. And so, I had to stay strong. There was a lot of different spots that I had to be at because I am the community leader, so I'm over here and I'm over here at the same time.”
She added, “But I had just to make sure that everybody was comfortable, everybody was okay, and they know that they have us to back them up."
In the days after the fire, donations poured into Sand Branch from all over the Metroplex.
By Parks’ home, pallets of bottled water, canned food, hygiene products, pet supplies and fire extinguishers stood by for distribution, shielded from the sun by heavy-duty tents.
Parks would keep working to distribute these items across the community and take in more supplies as they continued to roll in. But short-term supply distribution is a short-term fix. Sand Branch’s needs run deep.
“We pay taxes just like everybody else, but we don't have any schools, we don't have any stores, we don’t have stoplights, we don't have anything, water, anything,” Parks said. “So we pay the same exact taxes that everybody else pays. We just don't get the amenities.”
Parks said because she works from within the community, she knows residents’ needs. She said the fire is bringing attention to local struggles.
“Sand Branch needs help and deserves help. We're not asking. We're not begging,” Parks said.
“This is me putting what I know [out there] because I live here," she continued. "This is me putting everybody first.”
'We're not moving'
In an Aug. 29 Dallas County Fire Marshal’s Office incident report obtained by KERA, officials identified a resident illegally burning garbage as the fire's cause. Per Fox 4 News’ reporting, multiple people are being fined for illegal burning at the site.
Immediately after the fire, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said cleaning up the site would cost about $1 million, according to reporting from WFAA.
Price told WFAA he has held hearings, proposed fire safety improvements and offered to help residents move out of Sand Branch. He said those offers were rejected.
Price did not respond to KERA’s requests for further comment.
Parks said some residents who took Price’s past offers to relocate are now homeless and want to come back to Sand Branch.
“We're not moving,” Parks said. “This is our home, these are our neighbors, these are our seniors, these are our friends. We're not going anywhere.”
KERA’s Breaking News Reporter Dylan Duke contributed to this report.
This article is the first in a series examining Sand Branch’s long-term needs and lack of infrastructure.
Got a tip? Email Andy Lusk at alusk@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you!
