Posted: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 04:45 PM - 14,001 Readers

By: Associated Press

The Texas Forest Service says wildfires that began more than two weeks ago in Bastrop County have been 95 percent contained.

Officials say weekend rain and cooler temperatures contributed to the improved firefighting conditions in the area about 25 miles east of Austin.

Wildfires that broke out Labor Day weekend blackened more than 34,000 acres and forced thousands of residents to evacuate. Hundreds of homes were destroyed in fires blamed for two deaths.

Actor Jack Black, who last year filmed a movie in Bastrop, returned Sunday to tour the wildfire-damaged community and visit with some families who lost their homes. Black was joined by director Richard Linklater, who lives in Austin but whose house in Bastrop was destroyed.