Panhandle Wildfire Becomes Biggest in TX History

Firefighters from North Texas are heading to the Texas Panhandle to help battle what is now the single-biggest wildfire in the history of the Lone Star State and the second-biggest in the history of the United States.

As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County was considered the second-largest wildfire in the state’s history. The fire remained active Thursday morning, growing to over one million acres, with only 3% of the blaze contained. Other independent wildfires were also on a tear in the region but some merged with the Smokehouse Creek fire.

“This is now both the largest and most destructive fire in Texas history,” the West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department noted on social media, per The Dallas Morning News. “It is also the second largest wildfire in U.S. history.”

So far, one fatality has been reported — an 83-year-old woman from Stinnett — reported The Washington Post.

The fire, which has spread into Oklahoma, has surpassed the mark set by the 2006 East Amarillo Complex fire, which tore through 906,000 acres, according to The Texas Tribune. Light snow and precipitation in the area Thursday morning are not expected to do much to mitigate the threat.

To help with the out-of-control burn, firefighters from outside the area, including detachments from Fort Worth and Flower Mound, are going to assist first responders with the emergency.

“There’s a lot of acreage burned, and we have only so many resources to go and build a line around it … So we’ve got a lot of ground to cover and only 24 hours in a day,” said Texas A&M Forest Service public information officer Adam Turner, according to WFAA.

The rapid proliferation of wildfires prompted Gov. Greg Abbott to issue a disaster declaration earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Abbott took to social media to reassure residents that “state and local officials are working around-the-clock to provide a coordinated response to wildfires impacting Texans.”

The governor urged Texans to “take all precautions” to protect themselves and their loved ones. He also shared several tips, which can be seen on Ready.gov.

Resources from across the state, including some from Dallas, have been sent in haste to the Panhandle to help battle the blaze.

“We rely on Texans to help Texans a lot… Those little communities, they don’t have the resources that we do. So it’s we’re we’re always eager to get out there and lend a hand,” said McKinney Fire Battalion Chief Ben Jones, per WFAA.