Wildfires force evacuations and cut power to thousands in the Panhandle
DALLAS — The Smokehouse Creek Fire, north of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle, has already burned 850,000 acres, as of Wednesday evening. The fire was only 3% contained.
It is one of 5 fires in the Texas Panhandle that are burning more than 1 million acres in that part of the state. The second largest fire is the Windy Deuce Fire, which has burned 142,000 acres and was 30% contained as of Wednesday evening.
Wednesday night, winds will blow from the south and push the plume of smoke north into parts of Oklahoma and Kansas.
Light rain and snow are expected in the Panhandle on Thursday. This rainfall may help contain the fires. Air quality issues are also expected to improve on Thursday. The weather looks dry on Friday with stronger winds and low humidity which could cause fires to spread.
Here locally in North Texas, we don't expect any impact from these fires. Air quality in North Texas remains in the “good” category and should remain that way through the end of the week. Any smoke will stay away from North Texas because the winds are not good for bringing smoke our way.
Latest fire developments from AP:
The largest of the fires — which had spread to nearly 800 square miles — had jumped into parts of neighboring Oklahoma and remained completely out of control as dawn broke, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Authorities did not say what started the fires, but strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm temperatures fueled the fires. Near Borger, a community of about 13,000 people, emergency officials at one point late Tuesday answered questions from terrified residents during a Facebook live stream and told them to prepare to leave if they had not already done so.
“It was like a ring of fire around Borger. There was no way out…all four main roads were closed,” said Adriana Hill, 28, whose home is about a mile from the fire. She said the northerly winds that blew Fire in the opposite direction “saved our butts.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
