Texas wildfires


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Texas Panhandle
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Smokehouse Creek Fire
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LIVE COVERAGE
Updated an hour ago
Texas wildfires live updates: Huge blaze grows to 850,000 acres, now the second biggest fire in state history
The fires have led to the shutdown and evacuation of the nuclear weapons facility at Pantex out of “an abundance of caution.”

Texas wildfire grows into second largest in state history
Updated Feb. 28, 2024, 11:00 PM CET
By NBC News
What to know about Texas wildfires
Wildfires are spreading across the Texas Panhandle, threatening towns, forcing evacuations and cutting off power to thousands of homes and businesses.
A fire at Smokehouse Creek, north of Amarillo, has burned through 850,000 acres and is only 3% contained. It has quickly become the second-largest wildfire in Texas history.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties and urged Texans "to limit activities that could create sparks and take precautions to keep their loved ones safe."
Strong winds, unseasonably high temperatures and dry grass are fueling the fires, although rain could arrive tomorrow.

Texas fires are 'quicker than anybody can get around,' forest service says
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The spokesperson for Texas A&M Forest Service said that battling the fires has been difficult due to super high winds and because the blazes are moving “quicker than anybody can get around.”

“The last two days we’ve been under what we call a southern plains wildfire outbreak,” he said in an interview with KAMR Local 4 News of Amarillo. “It’s a condition that occurs here, and Kansas and New Mexico and the Southern Plains of Oklahoma where we have these super high winds come into the area with low humidities and push and just have massive fire growth.”

He said when you couple that with “grass development out in this area” from recent rain, it provided “a bunch of fuel for the fire to burn.”