The people of Sand Branch have lived without a functioning water infrastructure for decades. Christina Parks is trying to preserve what’s left of her community.

SAND BRANCH, TEXAS — Days after a large grassfire ripped through four acres of land in Sand Branch, Christina Parks is exhausted.

On August 29, brush, trash and debris on a vacant property fueled the blaze, and two nearby structures were damaged. There were no reported injuries, though some residents were forced to temporarily evacuate. After two days of containment efforts by Dallas Fire-Rescue and mutual aid crews from nine neighboring areas, the fire was finally suppressed, according to the department. For Parks, who lives in Sand Branch, it’s another blow to the already struggling community that lacks clean accessible water and makes disasters such as this more difficult to handle.

“I’m drained physically and mentally,” she told The 19th. Amid the chaos, she’s once again assumed her role as a community leader. With the assistance of other volunteers and community organizations — some of whom traveled as long as two hours — Parks is taking the steps to care for her neighbors in the immediate aftermath of the fire as she grapples with their ongoing need for basic necessities.

Sand Branch is an impoverished pocket of land tucked away in Seagoville, Texas, roughly 14 miles southeast of downtown Dallas. It has been without safe drinking water for decades, and it does not have a sewage system or even trash collection. Historically, it’s a predominantly Black community.