On Wednesday, Texas' second-largest wildfire on record burned 850,000 acres, with firefighters from across the state working to extinguish it. The fires gutted homes, razed vast ranches, killed livestock and forced evacuations across the sparsely populated Texas Panhandle.
The fire, known as the Smokehouse Creek Fire, started on Monday and spread to a large area of the ranch by Wednesday due to strong winds and dry conditions. The Texas A&M Forest Service says it has not been contained and continues to proliferate.
Satellite data from the National Interagency Fire Center suggested the fire was already the largest ever recorded in the state.
The fire spread northeast of Amarillo, surrounding the town of Canadian, a pastoral region of about 2,200 people near the Oklahoma border. Residents who had not yet been evacuated were forced to stay in place overnight.
Hemphill County Judge Lisa Johnson said about 35 residents, most of whom had tried to evacuate because roads were blocked by the fire, took refuge in a “safe room” at the emergency operations center where they spent the night. That's what it means. A pastor there said other residents flocked to local churches, while others simply stayed home and hoped for the best.
“There's a lot of stuff that's gone,” said Cody Cameron, 56. He said he and his wife were trying to collect three cats at his home on Tuesday when roads into and out of Canada were closed. By Wednesday, the road had reopened and the ground was black on both sides of Highway 60, about 10 miles into the town.
He said some of the fire moved closer to Cameron's backyard during the night, but it was later extinguished. “We were lucky,” he said.
Officials say there have been no deaths or serious injuries in the fire so far.
Fires swept through ranches, overtaking cattle and forcing ranchers to try to protect their property.
“I was out here fighting fires two days in a row,” said Jeff Chisholm, whose family owns a 30,000-acre ranch in Roberts County. He said most of the land was burnt, but his family was able to save the building with a pickup truck carrying firefighters. “One person was driving, one or two people were in the back seat, running along the line and trying to drive it back,” Chisholm said of how they poured water on the fire. .
Some of the approximately 600 cattle managed to escape the fire. others were not. “We've lost some people and some are still alive but burnt out and have to be shot,” he said. “We love animals and we love this country, but every time something like this happens and destroys everything, it's hard to swallow.”
A Forest Service spokeswoman said about 200 firefighters were battling several wildfires across the Panhandle, most of them centered on the Smokehouse Creek fire. Strong winds prevented the use of planes to stop the fire from spreading.
The full extent of the damage was not yet clear as of Wednesday. Some homes in the Canadian suburbs appeared to have burned, but the town center appeared to be largely spared.
Only part of the tan brick wall of Sheriff Brent Clapp's Locust Street home remained Wednesday amid piles of charred rubble and white ash. Her wife had already evacuated and she said she was working outside when the fire broke out.
“I was heading south on Highway 83 when I saw the fire coming across the highway behind me,” Hemphill County Sheriff Clapp said. “I just found out.”
On Wednesday, while exploring the smoldering ruins, he was uplifted when he discovered the remains of a cement fountain in the shape of an angel, a gift from his father.
“We all come together in this community,” he said, recalling how a local resident showed up earlier in the day, gave him a hug and asked if he needed food. “Everyone's okay.”
The immediate danger in Canada has passed, but the Smokehouse Creek Fire raged across the countryside on Wednesday. “It's concerning that it's spreading so quickly,” Forest Service spokeswoman Erin O'Connor said. The largest wildfire ever recorded in Texas was the 2006 East Amarillo Complex Fire, which burned approximately 1 million acres.
“This week's fire was caused by dead grass in the drainage area, which is the perfect environment to support the growth we've seen,” Ms O'Connor said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties, leveraging state resources to assist local firefighters. He called on residents to limit activities that could cause sparks.
The fires were raging and moving erratically on Tuesday as cold air with rapid changes in wind direction moved through the region. Winds were expected to ease across the Texas Panhandle on Thursday, reducing the fire danger.
“The situation will ease gradually,” O'Connor said, giving firefighters a chance to bring the fire under control by Friday, when humidity will drop again and strong winds will return. It is expected that it will come.
In addition to the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the Forest Service was also tracking other active fires, including one near the town of Fritch north of Amarillo.
“This is definitely a disaster,” Hutchinson County Emergency Management Coordinator Jerry Langwell said late Tuesday inside a temporary shelter for residents of Fritch. “The damage is extensive. I would say 50 percent of his buildings between here and Borger are damaged in some way,” he added, referring to another town about 19 miles away.
Langwell's spokesperson warned in a Facebook video on Wednesday that residents may re-enter the town, but to prepare for dire situations.
“I don't think a lot of people who live in the Fritch area are probably prepared for what's going to happen when they come into town,” said spokeswoman Deidre Thomas. “It's like what you see with a tornado: It hits one house and completely misses the next one.”
Across the state border in western Oklahoma, local authorities told residents in parts of Ellis and Roger Mills counties to leave.
Near Amarillo, officials said a wildfire was burning north of the Pantex plant, which disassembles nuclear weapons. The factory ceased operations on Tuesday and non-essential employees were ordered to evacuate.that reopened on Wednesday.
Raev Pendergraft, a nuclear safety engineer at Pantex's National Nuclear Security Administration production office, said there was no fire on the plant site or near its boundaries, but nuclear safety authorities were responding anyway. Ta. He said at a press conference that the factory has an on-site fire station.
Unseasonably warm temperatures and strong winds have sparked wildfires in other parts of the Great Plains, including Nebraska and Kansas.
Report contributor: Christine Houser, John Yoon, Delgar Erdenesanaa and judson jones.
