One of the wildfires raging in Texas has become the second largest in the state's history.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest one currently burning, had reached 850,000 acres as of Wednesday afternoon.
According to a live blog from CNN, the fire is ripping through an area the size of 150 football fields every minute. Flying over the Texas panhandle right now. Looks apocalyptic down there #TXFire #wildfire pic.twitter.com/HbgKiODu3a
— Patrick Ryan (@pmcelligott) February 28, 2024
On Tuesday, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s production office at Pantex, the main facility that disassembles America’s nuclear arsenal, had to pause operations due to the nearby fires, according to a report from the Washington Post. The plant was back in operation the following day. Flying over the Texas panhandle right now. Looks apocalyptic down there #TXFire #wildfire pic.twitter.com/HbgKiODu3a
— Patrick Ryan (@pmcelligott) February 28, 2024
“It was like a ring of fire around Borger. There was no way out ... all four main roads were closed,” Adrianna Hill, 28, whose home was within about a mile of the fire, told the Post. She said that a wind blowing the fire in the opposite direction “saved our butts.” Just flew over the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle. Prayers for the town with fire on all sides! pic.twitter.com/OdPDZlnVl9
— Jacob McNeil (@realjakemcneil) February 28, 2024
USA Today reports:The fires began on Monday but spread quickly the following day as strong winds, dry conditions and unseasonably high temperatures, which broke records across the country, fueled rapid growth. By Wednesday, the largest blaze, the Smokehouse Creek Fire, stretched across 500,000 acres – about 800 square miles – through several counties and into neighboring Oklahoma, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire, which is over half the size of Rhode Island, is among the largest wildfires the state has ever seen, only behind the 2006 Amarillo East Complex fires that claimed 12 lives and burned more than 900,000 acres.
To the south, the Windy Deuce Fire burned 90,000 acres of land; 25% of the fire has been contained as of Wednesday afternoon. Another blaze, the Grape Vine Creek Fire, northeast of Amarillo, Texas, burned 30,000 acres and was 60% contained, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
As of Wednesday, no deaths or injuries had been reported — but a large number of homes, cattle ranches, and buildings have been destroyed.
It remains unclear what started the fires.
