Information about wildfires in Texas
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With a fire area bigger than Rhode Island, the Smokehouse Creek Fire is already the largest in Texas history.
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Tens of thousands of acres of Oklahoma are covered by the fire, which according to the Texas A&M Forest Service is barely 5% controlled and spans more than 1 million acres, or 1,600 square miles.
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There are now two confirmed deaths. According to family members, 83-year-old Joyce Blankenship, a former substitute teacher, was discovered dead at her home. Two days after Cindy Owens, an Amarillo resident estimated to be in her 40s, stepped out of her pickup in Canada and the fire “overtook her,” authorities claimed, she passed away Wednesday.
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The National Weather Service cautions that heat and strong winds will likely result in “critical fire weather conditions again” during the weekend, and there are now four additional wildfires that are actively raging.
The fire at Smokehouse Creek damaged homes.
A fireman searches through the burning remains of a house that was burned in Stinnett, Texas, yesterday due to the Smokehouse Creek Fire.
The massive Smokehouse Creek fire is not showing any signs of going out.
Only 5% of the historic Smokehouse Creek fire has been controlled, and as of early today, it has burned over one million acres—an area greater than Rhode Island.
Authorities in the Texas Panhandle and some areas of Oklahoma were fighting to contain the fire, shelter families who had been forced from their homes and provide practical assistance to the many farmers and ranchers who had lost or severely injured their animals.
Although a significant portion of the isolated and rural area affected by the fire has not yet been examined, two deaths have been verified so far.
President Joe Biden promised to assist impacted areas during a visit to the US-Texas border yesterday.
“Where I come from, there are no red states or blue states when disasters strike,” he said. Just families and communities in need of assistance. We thus stand with everyone impacted by these wildfires and will keep assisting you in responding to and recovering from them.
A historic wildfire in Texas is burning over a million acres.
Canadian, Texas: With barely 3% of the fire controlled, the Smokehouse Creek Fire has grown to be the biggest in the history of the state. While there has been some respite from the heat, there will soon be more hot, dry, and windy weather. Guad Venegas of NBC News reports.
NEWS COLLECTED: NBC NEWS
