by The second-largest wildfire on record in Texas burned through 850,000 acres on Wednesday as firefighters across the state tried to contain it. The fire has consumed homes, burned vast ranch lands, killed livestock and forced evacuations across the sparsely populated Texas Panhandle.
The fire, known as the Smokehouse Creek Fire, started on Monday and by Wednesday had spread across vast swaths of ranch land, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions. It had not yet been contained and was growing, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Satellite data from the National Interagency Fire Center suggested the fire had already become the largest ever seen in the state.
The fire spread through the town of Canadian, a ranching community of about 2,200 people northeast of Amarillo, near the Oklahoma state line. Residents who had not yet been evacuated were forced to shelter in place overnight.
About 35 people, mostly residents who tried to get out but found roads closed by the fire, took shelter in a “safe room” at the emergency operations center, said Hemphill County Judge Lisa Johnson, who also spent the night. over there. Other residents crowded into a local church, the pastor there said. Some simply stayed home and hoped for the best.
“There’s a lot of things that just disappeared,” said Cory Cameron, 56, who said he and his wife had been home trying to pick up their three cats when roads in and out of Canada were closed Tuesday. By Wednesday, the roads had reopened and the ground was blackened on both sides of Highway 60 for about 10 miles before the city.
A portion of the fire approached Cameron’s backyard overnight, he said, but was later extinguished. “We were lucky,” she said.
Authorities said there have been no deaths or serious injuries attributed to the fire so far.
The fire devastated ranches, devastated livestock, and forced ranchers to try to save their own properties.
“I was here fighting the fire two days in a row,” said Jeff Chisum, whose family owns a 30,000-acre cattle ranch in Roberts County. Almost all of the land had burned, he said, but relatives were able to protect the buildings using trucks with firefighters in the back. “One guy driving, one or two guys behind, they just run down the line and try to deflect it,” Chisum said of how they poured water on the flames.
Some of their approximately 600 head of cattle managed to avoid the fire; others did not. “We lost some, and there are some that we have to shoot that are still alive but they are burned,” he said. “We are in love with the animals and the country, and every time something like this happens and destroys everything, it’s hard to accept.”
A Forest Service spokesperson said about 200 firefighters were working across the Panhandle battling several wildfires, most of them focused on the Smokehouse Creek Fire. Strong winds prevented the use of airplanes to try to stop the spread of the fires.
The full extent of the damage was still unclear Wednesday. While some houses on the outskirts of Canada appeared to have burned, the city center appeared to have been largely spared.
Only parts of the tan brick walls of Sheriff Brent Clapp’s home on Locust Street remained standing Wednesday amid a pile of charred rubble and white ash. He said his wife had already evacuated and he was working when the fire broke out.
“I was heading south on Highway 83 and the fire crossed the road behind me, and I had a feeling,” said Sheriff Clapp of Hemphill County. “I just knew it.”
On Wednesday, as she looked through the smoldering ruins, she was encouraged when she discovered that a cement fountain shaped like an angel, a gift from her father, had survived.
“In this community, everyone pitches in,” he said, recalling how a local resident had shown up earlier that day, given him a hug and asked if he needed any food. “Everyone will be fine.”
While the immediate danger in Canada had passed, the Smokehouse Creek fire swept across the rural landscape on Wednesday. “It seems alarming how quickly it’s spreading,” said Erin O’Connor, a Forest Service spokeswoman. The largest wildfire ever recorded in Texas was the East Amarillo Complex Fire in 2006, which burned about one million acres.
This week’s fire was fueled by dry, dead grass in a drainage area, the “perfect environment to support the growth we’ve seen”, Ms O’Connor said.
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties on Tuesday, activating state resources to assist local firefighters. He urged residents to limit activities that could create sparks.
The fires raged and changed erratically Tuesday as cold air with a rapid change in wind direction moved through the region. Fire danger was expected to decrease Thursday, with lighter winds forecast across the Texas Panhandle.
“Conditions are going to moderate a little bit,” O’Connor said, which would give firefighters a chance to put out the fires before Friday, when humidity is expected to drop again and strong winds are forecast to return.
In addition to the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the Forest Service was tracking other active fires, including around the town of Fritch, north of Amarillo.
“This is definitely a disaster,” said Jerry Langwell, Hutchinson County emergency management coordinator, speaking inside a temporary shelter for residents in Fritch late Tuesday. “The damage is serious. I would say 50 percent of the structures between here and Borger are damaged in some way,” he added, referring to another town about 12 miles away.
A Langwell spokeswoman said in a Facebook video Wednesday that residents could re-enter the city, but warned them to be prepared for a grim scene.
“I don’t think many of the people who live in the Fritch area are probably prepared for what they’re going to see when they come to town,” said spokeswoman Deidra Thomas. “It’s kind of like what you see with a tornado. It will hit one house and miss the next.”
Across the state line in western Oklahoma, local officials told some residents of Ellis and Roger Mills counties to leave.
Near Amarillo, a wildfire was burning north of the Pantex plant that dismantles nuclear weapons, officials said. The plant suspended operations on Tuesday and ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel. He reopened on wednesday.
There was no fire at the plant site or near its boundaries, but nuclear safety officials were responding anyway, said Laef Pendergraft, a nuclear safety engineer at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s production office at Pantex. . The plant has an on-site fire department, he said at a news conference.
Unusually high temperatures and strong winds were also sparking wildfires in other parts of the Great Plains, including Nebraska and Kansas.
The report was contributed by Christina Hauser, Juan Yoon, Delger Erdenesanaa and Judson Jones.
