Historic Texas wildfire threatens to grow as the cause remains under investigation:-In just over a week, the biggest wildfire in Texas history has burned more than 1.1 million acres. On Sunday, dry winds and high temperatures fed the fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least two people in the Panhandle of the state.
Historic Texas wildfire threatens to grow as the cause remains under investigation
The Texas A&M Forest Service says that several wildfires that started on February 26 in the Texas Panhandle were still going strong on Sunday. A cold front is expected to move across the rural Panhandle of the state early Monday. However, the National Weather Service in Amarillo said that critical fire weather conditions will last through Sunday because temperatures will peak in some places in the evening, reaching the low to mid-80s.
The weather service said that winds from the southwest would gust up to 50 mph, the humidity would drop below 15%, and the grass would be very dry. The Texas A&M Forest Service said that 65 counties currently have burn bans in place. The government told people to stay away from actions that could start fires.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire has burned more than 1,078,000 acres, making it the state’s biggest blaze ever. There are five wildfires going on in the Panhandle of Texas and in Oklahoma and across the state line.
The wildfire is now five times the size of New York City and bigger than the whole state of Rhode Island. As of Sunday morning, only 15% of it was controlled. Blue Team Operations Section Chief Mike Brod said in a video update on Facebook Sunday morning that the Smokehouse, Windy Deuce, and Grapevine Creek fires got busier on Saturday because of the weather.
As of later Sunday, the Texas A&M Forest Service said, “A RED FLAG warning has been issued and will last until midnight Sunday.” “Any moisture that we got three days ago is gone for good.” Overnight, the heat didn’t get better… Sod is 2% drier than it was yesterday, so any heat source will work well on it.
Investigators look for cause of the inferno
Investigators from several insurance companies told Xcel Energy, a utility company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 28 that one of its broken utility poles may have started the fire. This information was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. An additional request was made that the “fallen SPS utility pole that is situated within the vicinity of the fire’s potential area of origin be preserved,” according to the document.
While in the Texas Panhandle on Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott said that the Texas Department of Emergency Management will continue to look at the damage and figure out what caused the fire.
Early estimates say that between 400 and 500 buildings have been destroyed, but officials are still working to find out the real number.
“If you look at the damage that’s been done here, it’s literally gone.” He said, “There are only ashes left on the ground.” “Those who are affected by this have gone through utter devastation.”
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2 people identified as fire victims
There were fires this week that killed two people. As the fires burned across a large area, though, officials said they hadn’t yet done a full search for victims.
W. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said that many firemen were hurt as well. Three were treated for burns and then sent home from the hospitals.
In Oklahoma, two firemen were hurt while fighting fires. As they headed to a fire near Gauge, one got hurt because of the heat, and the other got hurt when the brush pumper he was riding in hit a fuel truck. Both firemen should be fine soon.
Thousands of cattle killed in fires
Government officials said this week that the fires have killed thousands of cattle and damaged buildings and miles of land.
“Over 85% of the state’s cattle are on ranches in the panhandle,” said Sid Miller, the commissioner of agriculture for Texas. “Out there are millions of cattle, and in some towns there are more cattle than people.” The losses could be terrible for those areas.
On Friday, farmers looked for dead cattle to get rid of, and officials said that animals that were badly burned or hurt would be put down. The result could be very bad for some ranches, but it’s not likely to have much of an effect on the price of beef for consumers.
Chance Bowers, who runs the X-Cross-X Ranch, told The Associated Press, “These cows you see dead are worth between $2,500 and $3,000 each.” “In terms of money, it’s a huge, huge burden on us.”