The Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest on record in Texas, remains largely uncontrolled across the Panhandle state.
So far, the fire has burned more than 1 million acres, making it one of the most destructive in U.S. history. The fire devastated cattle ranches, consumed homes and killed at least two people.
After a brief respite thanks to some precipitation on Friday, temperatures rose again, above average, over the weekend. High temperatures coupled with strong winds continue to make efforts to extinguish the fire difficult. .
Here’s what we know so far.
When did it start?
The fire broke out on February 26 and it is not yet clear what started it.
It spread around the town of Canadian, a ranching community of about 2,200 people northeast of Amarillo near the Oklahoma state line. By Wednesday, the fire had spread to large swathes of ranches in the Panhandle. By Thursday, it became the largest on record in the state.
To grow so quickly, a few weather conditions had to align: high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.
Where did the fire spread?
The Smokehouse Creek Fire ravaged a sparsely populated region of Texas that is home to most of the state’s livestock: millions of cows, calves, steers and bulls. Its sprawling ranches are not always easily traversed by road.
Wildfires are nothing new to Panhandle ranchers, many of whom know how to turn their pickup trucks into makeshift fire trucks in order to fight a blaze. But the scale of this fire is unprecedented in Texas.
Besides the ranchers, residents of the small communities that dot the landscape, like Fritch and Canadian, saw their homes, cars and churches reduced to ruins.
So far, two deaths have been linked to the fires. Joyce Blankenship, an 83-year-old woman living on the outskirts of the town of Stinnett, died in her home when flames engulfed her property Tuesday. Cindy Owen, 44, died from burns after flames surrounded her company’s truck Tuesday as she returned home to Amarillo from Oklahoma. She later died in a hospital.
On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott said initial assessments suggested about 400 to 500 structures in the area were destroyed by the fire, and he warned that number could rise as investigations continue. Authorities also said several firefighters and other rescue workers were injured.
Is the fire under control?
The Smokehouse Creek Fire was 15 percent contained Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
The rugged terrain of the Canadian River Valley, where the fire broke out, poses a major obstacle for firefighters because fire trucks cannot navigate some of the area’s steep cliffs, valleys and hills.
Some rain on Thursday helped slow the progression of the fire. But hot, windy and dry weather returned this weekend, which could prolong the fire.
The National Weather Service warned of “critical fire weather conditions” in the region on Saturday – Texas Independence Day – and Sunday, urging residents to avoid outdoor activities that could cause sparks or flames .
Fire risk remains critical in the Texas Panhandle. Sunday morning, a fire weather watch said the high fire risk had been expanded to include states such as Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. In Kansas, the National Forest Service already battling a grass fire near Topeka.
And the livestock?
The Panhandle is home to about 85 percent of the approximately 12 million cattle in Texas, said state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. But most of them are concentrated in feedlots and dairy farms, and those operations have been largely spared from the fires.
Yet large swaths of grassland that Texas cattle rely on for food have been reduced to a blackened expanse. Thousands of cattle may have already died or been so injured in the fires that they should be killed, Miller said.
Even ranchers whose livestock survived found themselves searching for somewhere for their herds to eat. Burned pastures mean surviving cows are at risk of starvation if left alone. Mr Miller said a rancher he knew had 1,500 head of cattle but “no grass or water” and was in dire straits, adding the rancher might have to move the cattle across state borders.
Fire and smoke could also cause health problems down the road or lead pregnant cows to give birth prematurely.
For many ranchers, the tasks ahead seem gargantuan: burying dead livestock, repairing broken fences, distributing bales of hay trucked in from hundreds of miles.
Starting from scratch won’t be easy, ranchers say, because livestock prices have increased. exploded Amid a drought in recent years, interest rates remain high, making loans less attractive, especially as many ranchers face a pile of bills at this time of year as they are preparing for spring.
Is this fire unusual?
In most of Texas, wildfires occur in the summer. But in the Panhandle, fire risk is highest around March when temperatures rise, strong winds blow across the flat landscape and dry grass can easily catch fire.
Climate change is likely causing the fire season to start earlier and last longer by increasing the number of days in a year with hot, dry weather conditions that favor wildfires, said John Nielsen-Gammon, a climate scientist with the State of Texas and Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas. A&M University.
Temperatures in Texas have risen 0.61 degrees per decade since 1975, according to a 2021 report by the state climatologist’s office. Relative humidity in the Panhandle region also decreased.
The report was provided by Nicolas Bogel-Burroughs, Delger Erdenesana, Christophe Flavelle, Lucinda Holt And Miglena Sternadori.
