Emergencies
Wildfires in Texas are spreading – at least two dead
Firefighters are battling the Smokehouse Creek Fire north of Canadian, Texas. photo
© David Erickson/AP/dpa
The numerous fires in the US state of Texas have been spreading fear and terror for days. The largest forest fire has long since spread into the neighboring state of Oklahoma. The number of deaths is rising.
In addition, the flames continued to destroy houses and animals on Thursday in the region, which is located about 550 kilometers northwest of the city of Dallas and is also called the Panhandle because of its geographical shape. More than 85 percent of cattle raised in Texas are raised there, CNN quoted agriculture experts as saying.
The first fatality, an 83-year-old woman in Hutchinson County, was confirmed by authorities on Thursday. Both women died in the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest of the region’s wildfires. The fire has now spread to more than a million acres (more than 4,000 square kilometers) and extends to the east into the neighboring state of Oklahoma.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire is now the largest forest fire in the state’s history, CNN reported. On the Texas side, the flames are only 3 percent under control, the Texas Forest Service said in its latest situation report on Thursday. In Oklahoma, the fire had already burned more than 31,500 acres (about 127 square kilometers) but was 40 percent under control as of Thursday evening, a Forest Service spokesman there told CNN.
Dry air and strong winds fueled the Smokehouse Creek Fire on Tuesday and caused it to “explode in size,” according to CNN. On Thursday, rain and snowfall provided some relief. But forecasts for the weekend suggested strong winds could return. Other, smaller fires in the state were either fully or partially under control, according to the Texas Forest Service.