Texas firefighters are battling a new wildfire in the panhandle, where wildfires have already consumed hundreds of acres since Sunday afternoon.
Firefighters from across the state continue to battle multiple massive wildfires across the Texas panhandle, which have resulted in multiple evacuations of numerous cities and even a nuclear weapons facility. One of these record-breaking fires, The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson County, quickly became one of the largest in Texas history, burning hundreds of thousands of acres in mere days, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“This is now both the largest and most destructive fire in Texas History. It is also the second largest wildfire in US History,” said the West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department in a social media post on February 28.
This past weekend also saw the continuation of “critical fire weather conditions” across the region with dry grass and wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service in Amarillo.
Texas A&M Forest Service reported on the afternoon of March 3 that it was responding to a new wildfire in Hutchinson County, dubbed the Roughneck Fire southwest of Sanford. The most recent update shows this fire is currently 25% contained and has burned an estimated 300 acres.
This upcoming week is expected to bring relief from the fire-conducive weather.
Steve Hannah, senior meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Amarillo, told The Dallas Express that the hot, dry, and windy conditions that allowed the fires to start will continue to wane. Hannah said that the panhandle will see more “benign” weather to begin the week of March 4 with the arrival of a cold front and gradually weakening winds.
“Our winds to the north, we expect those winds which are currently gusting up to about 30 miles an hour to weaken through the day as the gradient weakens,” said Hannah.
Hannah said that these weakening winds would hinder the further development of wildfires and that the cold front would also bring more moisture into the atmosphere. Additionally, the latter half of the week and into the weekend is expected to bring rain to the region.
“So, it doesn’t look like we’re going to have those dry, windy conditions any time soon. Looks like we’re going to have mild conditions, sunny skies for now, lighter winds, a little bit more moist, and a little bit cooler,” said Hannah.
Despite improving conditions, the largest wildfires continue to grow across the state. The Smokehouse Creek Fire has burned a total of 1,076,638 acres and is 15% contained; the Windy Deuce Fire in Moore County has burned 144,206 acres and is 55% contained; the Grape Vine Creek Fire in Gray County has consumed 34,882 acres and is 60% contained, and the Magenta Fire, Oldham County has burned 3,297 acres and is 85% contained, according to the latest update from the Texas A&M Forest Service.
