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Climate and Environment

    • A Texas town was helpless to watch as the largest wildfire in state history engulfed it

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    STINNETT, Texas -

    Wildfires may have destroyed as many as 500 structures in the Texas Panhandle, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday, describing how the largest blaze in state history scorched everything in its path, leaving ashes in its wake.

    Texas officials warned that the threat was not yet over. Higher temperatures and stronger winds forecast for Saturday elevated worries that fires in the Panhandle could spread beyond the more than 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometres) already chewed up this week by fast-moving flames.

    The largest blaze, the Smokehouse Creek fire, which began Monday, has killed at least two people, and left a charred landscape of scorched prairie, dead cattle and burned-out homes. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, although strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm weather fed the flames.

    鈥淲hen you look at the damages that have occurred here it鈥檚 just gone, completely gone nothing left but ashes on the ground,鈥 Abbott said during a news conference in Borger, Texas. He said a preliminary assessment found 400 to 500 structures had been destroyed.

    Abbott praised what he called a 鈥渉eroic鈥 response from 鈥渇earless鈥 firefighters.

    鈥淚t would have been far worse and far more damaging not just to property but to people, but for those firefighters,鈥 he said.

    The National Weather Service forecast for the coming days warns of strong winds, relatively low humidity and dry conditions that pose a 鈥渟ignificant" wildfire threat.

    鈥淓verybody needs to understand that we face enormous potential fire dangers as we head into this weekend,鈥 Abbott said. 鈥淣o one can let down their guard. Everyone must remain very vigilant.鈥

     

    Snow covers a home that was destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Ty O'Neil/AP Photo)

     

     

    In the hard-hit town of Stinnett, population roughly 1,600, families who evacuated due to the Smokehouse Creek fire returned Thursday to devastating scenes: melted street signs and charred frames of cars and trucks. Homes reduced to piles of ash and rubble. An American flag propped up outside a destroyed house.

    鈥淲e had to watch from a few miles away as our neighborhood burned,鈥 Danny Phillips said, his voice trembling with emotion.

    Phillips鈥 one-story home was still standing, but several of his neighbors weren't so fortunate.

    The Smokehouse Creek fire has also crossed into Oklahoma, and the Texas A&M Forest Service said Friday that it has merged with another fire. It was 15 per cent contained Friday afternoon, up from three per cent on Thursday.

    Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said individual ranchers could suffer devastating losses due to the fires, but predicted the overall impact on the Texas cattle industry and consumer beef prices would be minimal.

    Two women were confirmed killed by the fires this week. But with flames still menacing a wide area, authorities haven't yet thoroughly searched for victims or tallied homes and other structures damaged or destroyed.

    Cindy Owen was driving in Texas' Hemphill County south of Canadian on Tuesday afternoon when she encountered fire or smoke, said Sgt. Chris Ray of the state's Department of Public Safety. She got out of her truck, and flames overtook her.

    A passerby found Owen and called first responders, who took her to a burn unit in Oklahoma. She died Thursday morning, Ray said.

    The other victim, an 83-year-old woman, was identified by family members as Joyce Blankenship, a former substitute teacher. Her grandson, Lee Quesada, said deputies told his uncle Wednesday that they had found Blankenship鈥檚 remains in her burned home.

     

    Electrical crews, bottom, replace burnt power poles near a destroyed residence along the Canadian River in Canadian, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/David Erickson)

    U.S. President Joe Biden, who was in Texas on Thursday to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, said he directed federal officials to do 鈥渆verything possible鈥 to assist fire-affected communities, including sending firefighters and equipment. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has guaranteed Texas and Oklahoma will be reimbursed for their emergency costs, the president said.

    鈥淲hen disasters strike, there鈥檚 no red states or blue states where I come from,鈥 Biden said. 鈥淛ust communities and families looking for help.鈥

    Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties.

    The weekend forecast and 鈥渟heer size and scope鈥 of the blaze are the biggest challenges for firefighters, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

    鈥淚 don鈥檛 want the community there to feel a false sense of security that all these fires will not grow anymore,鈥 Kidd said. 鈥淭his is still a very dynamic situation.鈥

    Jeremiah Kaslon, a Stinnett resident who saw neighbors鈥 homes destroyed by flames that stopped just on the edge of his property, seemed prepared for what the changing forecast might bring.

    鈥淎round here, the weather, we get all four seasons in a week,鈥 Kaslon said. 鈥淚t can be hot, hot and windy, and it will be snowing the next day. It鈥檚 just that time of year.鈥

    Encroaching flames caused the main facility that disassembles America鈥檚 nuclear arsenal to pause operations Tuesday night, but it was open for normal work by Wednesday. The small town of Fritch, which lost hundreds of homes in a 2014 fire, saw 40 to 50 more destroyed this week, Mayor Tom Ray said.

    Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press journalists Ty O'Neil in Stinnett, Texas, Jamie Stengle in Dallas, and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed.

    Correction

    This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Jeremiah Kaslon's last name from "Kalson" in one reference.

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