A huge fire at the Grand Prairie junkyard in Texas has sent a thick plume of smoke into the air. In a fiery onslaught across the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, a series of wildfires ravaged the region, with one inferno swelling to become among the largest ever recorded in the state’s history. The flames moved across the terrain with alarming speed, engulfing swathes of small towns and cattle ranches, leaving them completely devastated.
Wildfire continued to roar across the Texas panhandle Thursday, forcing widespread evacuations and causing two deaths. By Thursday morning, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported a staggering count of 130 fires raging throughout the state. The largest of the blazes is the Smokehouse Creek Fire, engulfing a staggering 1 million acres which is larger than the area of Rhode Island. Despite efforts, containment of the inferno stood at a mere 3% as of Thursday, posing a monumental challenge for the firefighters.
“This is now the largest fire in recorded Texas history,” Erin O’Connor, lead public information officer for Texas A&M Forest Service, said Thursday.
“The fire’s acreage indicates land within the burn zone,” she said.
As a precautionary measure, the Smokehouse blaze prompted a temporary shutdown of a nuclear plant earlier this week. The 687 Reamer Fire fed into it after consuming an additional 2,000 acres of land.
On Thursday, multiple blazes persisted across Texas, extending beyond state borders into Oklahoma. As per the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, the Windy Deuce fire had scorched a minimum of 142,000 acres and was halfway under control. Meanwhile, the Grape Vine Creek Fire, which rampaged through 30,000 acres, was close to two-thirds containment. Besides this, the Magenta Fire had swept through an extra 3,300 acres, causing the situation worse.
Authorities have confirmed two deaths linked to the Texas wildfires this week. According to Sgt. Chris Ray of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Cindy Owen tragically encountered fire or smoke while driving in Hemphill County on Tuesday afternoon. Upon exiting her vehicle, she was engulfed by flames. Rescue team, however, got a call from a passerby and rescued before carrying her to a burn unit in Oklahoma. She passed away on Thursday morning, Ray said.
The other victim was a 83-year-old woman who was identified by her family members as Joyce Blankenship, a former substitute teacher. According to her grandson, deputies had found Blankenship’s remains in her burned home.
O’Connor said, the number of damaged or destroyed structures is not known yet, though their investigations are still on.
President Joe Biden, during his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday, pledged robust federal assistance for communities fighting with wildfires. He declared that he had instructed federal authorities to undertake “everything possible” to aid the affected regions, including dispatching firefighters and essential equipment. Highlighting the government’s commitment, Biden revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has assured Texas and Oklahoma of reimbursement for their emergency expenditures.
“When disasters strike, there’s no red states or blue states where I come from,” Biden said. “Just communities and families looking for help. So we’re standing with everyone affected by these wildfires and we’re going to continue to help you respond and recover.”
According to O’Connor’s report on Thursday, fire activity remained minimal, attributed in part to subdued winds. However, there’s a possibility of winds intensifying over the weekend. Forecasts also suggest some precipitation later in the week, potentially slowing the spread of the fire, she said. “Our firefighters should be able to make good progress and increase containment over the next couple of days.”
According to Douglas Weber, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Amarillo, while parts of the Panhandle experienced 1 to 4 inches of snow on Thursday, reports varied regarding moisture levels over the fire-affected area. Weber indicated that observations ranged from a mere trace to possibly a quarter of an inch of moisture.
As the region gets ready for the return of warm, dry, and windy weather on Friday, the efficacy of recent precipitation remains uncertain. However, optimism is tempered as the National Weather Service issues fire weather watches for the upcoming weekend in select areas of New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas.
AccuWeather’s Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter has cautioned that dangerous conditions may resurface over the weekend in the Southern Plains. The forecast indicates the likelihood of gusty winds, low humidity, and high temperatures, raising concerns for hazardous fire break-out in the region.
“Firefighters are going to welcome all of that help from the atmosphere today, with the higher levels of moisture and reduced winds as compared to earlier in the week. That period of help is very brief,” Porter said. “Grass and brush can dry up very quickly, that’s why we’re so concerned about the risks for fires to increase once again.”