Texas battles second-biggest wildfire disaster in state history

As firefighters battled to contain one of the biggest flames in the state’s history, which has destroyed property and forced evacuations, wildfires have been blazing throughout the US state of Texas.

Only three percent of the Smokehouse Creek fire was contained by the Texas A&M Forest Service. The Panhandle is a flat, northern region of Texas noted for its plains and scattering of small communities.

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Although the death of an 83-year-old grandma has been confirmed, authorities have not yet tallied the number of homes and other structures damaged or destroyed, nor have they conducted a thorough search for casualties despite the flames still posing a threat to a large area.

The fire has spread over 3,370 square kilometers (more than 1,300 square miles) and has even reached certain areas of neighboring Oklahoma. The 2006 East Amarillo Complex fire, which burnt over 1,400 square miles (3,630 square kilometers) and claimed 13 lives, was the largest fire in state history.

Strong winds were pushing walls of flame, and massive plumes of smoke were soaring hundreds of feet above the thinly populated area. In certain places, the smoke caused a delay in overhead surveillance of the damage.

Strong winds, dry grass, and unusually warm temperatures all contributed to the flames’ spread, however authorities have not disclosed what started the fires. At one point late on Tuesday, emergency officials near the 13,000-person village of Borger responded to worried residents’ inquiries on Facebook and advised them to prepare to evacuate, if they hadn’t already.

Firefighters had some hope from the weather prediction, which called for lower temperatures, less wind, and possibly rain on Thursday.

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Forecasters reported that the fires that were expanding eastward turned southward and threatened additional regions due to sustained winds of up to 45 mph (72 kmph) with gusts as high as 70 mph (113 kmph). However, a cold front that passed through Tuesday night caused the winds to lessen, according to Peter Vanden Bosch, an Amarillo-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service.