Wildfires in the Texas Panhandle might have destroyed as many as 500 structures, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Friday, describing how the largest blaze in state history scorched everything in its path, leaving ashes in its wake.
Texas officials said that the threat was not yet over. Higher temperatures and stronger winds forecast for yesterday elevated worries that fires in the Panhandle could spread beyond the more than 440,000 hectares already chewed up this week by fast-moving flames.
The largest blaze, the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which began on 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.
Photo: Bloomberg
“When you look at the damages that have occurred here it’s just gone, completely gone, nothing left but ashes on the ground,” Abbott told a press conference in Borger, Texas.
He said a preliminary assessment found that 400 to 500 structures had been destroyed.
Abbott praised what he called a “heroic” response from “fearless” firefighters.
“It would have been far worse and far more damaging not just to property but to people, but for those firefighters,” he said.
The US National Weather Service forecast for the coming days warns of strong winds, relatively low humidity and dry conditions that pose a “significant” wildfire threat.
“Everybody needs to understand that we face enormous potential fire dangers as we head into this weekend,” Abbott said. “No one can let down their guard. Everyone must remain very vigilant.”
In the hard-hit town of Stinnett, with a population of about 1,600, families who evacuated due to the Smokehouse Creek Fire returned on Thursday to devastating scenes: melted street signs and charred frames of vehicles, and homes reduced to piles of ash and rubble.
“We had to watch from a few miles away as our neighborhood burned,” Danny Phillips said, his voice trembling.
Phillips’ one-story home was still standing, but several of his neighbors were not so fortunate.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire has also crossed into Oklahoma, and the Texas A&M Forest Service said on Friday that it has merged with another fire.
It was 15 percent contained on Friday afternoon, up from 3 percent on Thursday.
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