VIDEO: Horseshoe Bay fire caused by 'accidental roadside start'

The brush fire in Horseshoe Bay, which grew to 400 acres on Thursday, is now 75% contained, and officials with the Texas A&M Forest service say the cause was an "accidental roadside start."

Officials did not say how exactly the fire started, but this cause means it could have been caused by a passing vehicle sparking the fire.

The city of Horsehose Bay says the Trails Fire threatened 37 homes, on top of destroying one and leading to another home to suffer heavy water damage.

Neighbors in the Blue Lake subdivision and The Trails subdivision evacuated their homes Thursday, but were allowed to return later that evening.

The home that was destroyed in the fire was in Blue Lake.

Kim Thole lives next door to that home, and had only a few minutes to get out.

"I was shaking so bad, I didn't know what to do," Thole said. "We had less than ten minutes from the time we were watching billowing smoke up there to a guy running into our house saying, 'You guys need to get out of here now.'"

Her granddaughter, Sumer, recorded video as they were evacuating, showing massive flames approaching the back of their house.

As they were leaving, Thole said all she could see in her backyard was black smoke, and was convinced her home would be next to be engulfed by the fire.

"Just saw flames over our house, so we were sure it was gone," Thole said.

When she and her family returned, she saw only minimal damage.

However, the home next door - which she said is a vacation home where her neighbor does not always live - is a total loss.

"We got lucky. It went around us," Thole said. "Next door and that lot beside us is completely scorched. Our vegetation is gone. It's just crazy."

Crews came back to that home, hosing it down, and checking for hotspots nearby.

Texas A&M Forest Service Wildland Urban Interface Specialist Matthew Ford said crews will be doing this all day, into the night.

"We are doing patrolling and mop-up containment, based on fitness of equipment - in terms of dozers and engines - trying to mop up those hotspots," Ford said.

Meanwhile, homes in The Lakes subdivision made it out mostly unscathed.

That neighborhood is a firewise community, meaning they join a voluntary program to clear vegetation close to their homes.

Ford said this played a role in making things easier for firefighters and minimizing damage.

"What they were able to do was reduce fuels, keep the grass down low, trim the trees 6 feet and up to keep all that vertical fuel loading to keep the fire lower on the ground. Really, a lot of that played into assisting fire departments in directly firefighting suppression activities," Ford said.

As firefighters continue putting out hotspots, Thole said she will be watching the smoke and embers closely, in case it breaks out again.

"We're keeping it very close because our house backs up to the reserve that burned those 400 acres," Thole said.

Nobody was hurt in the fire.