BREAKING NEWS: Texas battles historic wildfires as snow covers scorched land in the Panhandle; Smokehouse Creek Wildfire is largest in Texas HISTORY
BREAKING NEWS: Texas battles historic wildfires as snow covers scorched land in the Panhandle; Smokehouse Creek Wildfire is largest in Texas HISTORY as 1.1 million acres of charred Panhandle are followed by SNOW: Flurries blanket scorched earth after fatal inferno the size of Rhode Island kills 1 – with smoke seen 7 HOURS away in El Paso; Texas wildfire is so big, you can see it from space
STINNETT, Texas (AP) — A dusting of snow covered a desolate landscape of scorched prairie, dead cattle and burned out homes in the Texas Panhandle on Thursday, giving firefighters brief relief in their desperate efforts to corral a blaze that has grown into the largest in state history.
The Smokehouse Creek fire grew to nearly 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers). It merged with another fire and is just 3% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Gray skies loomed over huge scars of blackened earth in a rural area dotted with scrub brush, ranchland, rocky canyons and oil rigs. In Stinnett, a town of about 1,600, someone propped up an American flag outside a destroyed home.
Dylan Phillips, 24, said he hardly recognized his Stinnett neighborhood, which was littered with melted street signs and the charred frames of cars and trucks. His family’s home survived, but at least a half a dozen others were smoking rubble.
“It was brutal,” Phillips said. “The street lights were out. It was nothing but embers and flames.”
The Smokehouse Creek fire’s explosive growth slowed Thursday as snow fell and winds and temperatures dipped, but it was still untamed and threatening. The largest of several major fires burning in the rural Panhandle section of the state, it has also crossed into Oklahoma.
Firefighter Lee Jones was helping douse the smoldering wreckage of homes in Stinnett to keep them from reigniting when temperatures and winds increase Friday and into the weekend.
https://apnews.com/article/texas-panhandle-fire-evacuations-cbbb6a279bef1bd020722ed48927114a
- The Smokehouse Creek Fire has scorched 1,075,000 acres and is at 3 percent contained, making it the largest recorded wildfire in the Lone Star state
- One Texas resident has been confirmed dead in the scorching wildfire – but that figure is expected to rise as homes across the state are burned to ashes
The Smokehouse Creek Fire is officially the largest and most devastating fire in Texas‘ history – with the killer inferno burning through over 1.1 million acres of land.
As of Thursday, the record-breaking wildfire has scorched through 1,075,000 acres and is three percent contained, with thousands of people evacuating their homes.
Ghastly winds coupled with the raging flames have charred huge swathes of the Panhandle – and the wildfire is now the equivalent size of the whole of Rhode Island.
In a stark contrast, snow is falling across some parts of the Panhandle – leaving a blanket of snowfall over the blackened earth and dead livestock.
One Texas resident has been confirmed dead in the scorching wildfire – but that figure is expected to rise as homes across the Lone Star State are burned to ashes.
The West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department confirmed: ‘This is now both the largest and most destructive fire in Texas History.’ It’s now the second largest in US history.
Thick smoke caused by the cataclysmic fire was visible a seven-hour drive away in El Paso. The National Weather Service said that a cold front pushed the smoke into the region on Wednesday and visibility is some areas was reduced to four miles.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire that has scorched 1,075,000 acres and is at 3 percent contained, making it the largest recorded wildfire in the Lone Star state
Canadian, Texas resident Tresea Rankin told CBS News a rolling burning tumbleweed came on to her property and burned down her family home of 38 years.
‘I was Facetiming with my son, who is in the service, and he said “Mom leave,”’ she said. As she returned to her charred home she said, ‘You lace up your shoes and you do what you gotta do. I gotta have a home.’
The Windy Deuce fire has covered 142,000 acres and 30 percent containment, the Magenta fire has burned 2,500 acres and is at 65 percent contained, the 687 Reamer fire is at 2,000 acres and 10 percent contained, and the Grape Vine Creek fire is at 30,000 acres and 60 percent contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
According to the National Weather Service, snowfall totals could be around two inches in the southwest Texas Panhandle, where the fires burned through.
Fritch Mayor Tom Ray estimated up to 50 homes were destroyed by the fires in his town.
In Fritch, photos show a calf killed and burned trees by the Smokehouse Creek Fire covered in snow on Thursday.
Texas Route 136 was covered with a blanket of snow in Amarillo, where the flames blazed through just a day before.
Photos and videos showed scorched homes and property throughout the Panhandle reduced to piles of ash and scenes of charred vehicles and blackened earth.
Hemphill County emergency management coordinator Bill Kendall described the charred terrain as ‘like a moonscape. It’s just all gone.’
He said about 40 homes were burned around the perimeter of the town of Canadian, but no buildings were lost.
The Texas A&M Forest Service raised its Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to three due to the number of fires burning in the state.
According to the forest service, a preparedness level three means wildfire activity ‘is impacting several regions of the state as the result of drought, dry vegetation or frequent fire weather events.’
An 83-year-old grandmother has been identified as the first victim of Texas’ Smokehouse Creek Fire.
Texas wildfire is so big, you can see it from space