There may have been up to500 structures destroyed by the fires in Texas

The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Stinnett, Texas, Burns Likely to Enstroy Hundreds of Homes and Trucks

STINNETT, Texas — Wildfires may have destroyed as many as 500 structures in the Texas Panhandle, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday, describing how the largest blaze in state history scorched everything in its path, leaving ashes in its wake.

The threat wasn’t over, warned Texas officials. The fire in the Panhandle has chewed up more than 1700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers) and is moving fast enough to spread to other areas.

On Thursday, as flames from the Smokehouse Creek Fire raced eastward across the Texas Panhandle for the fourth straight day at speeds faster than a person can run, a cold front, driving a snow squall, swept southward over the Great Plains. In an elemental collision, the fire and snow met east of Amarillo, the swirling flakes joining, and then melting, into the smoke and ash of the colossal prairie fire.

The National Weather Service forecast for the coming days warns of strong winds, relatively low humidity and dry conditions that pose a “significant” wildfire threat.

“Everybody needs to understand that we face enormous potential fire dangers as we head into this weekend,” Abbott said. “No one can let down their guard. Everyone must be very alert.

In the hard-hit town of Stinnett, population roughly 1,600, families who evacuated due to the Smokehouse Creek fire returned Thursday to devastating scenes: melted street signs and charred frames of cars and trucks. Homes reduced to piles of ash and rubble. An American flag propped up outside a destroyed house.

Sid Miller said that the Texas cattle industry would not be affected by the fires, but individual ranchers could suffer devastating losses.

Cindy Owen, Bruce Abbott, and Joyce Blankenship, the two victims of Texas wildfires, which destroyed up to 500 structures, appeared in a news release on Thursday

Two women died in the fires this week. Authorities haven’t yet combed for victims or found homes that were damaged or destroyed in the area still ravaged by fire.

Cindy Owen was travelling south of Canadian in Texas when she encountered fire or smoke. Chris Ray of the state’s Department of Public Safety. She got out of her truck, and flames overtook her.

Joyce Blankenship was the 83-year-old woman who was killed, according to family members. Her grandson, Lee Quesada, said deputies told his uncle Wednesday that they had found Blankenship’s remains in her burned home.

During his visit to Texas on Thursday, the president told federal officials to assist the fire-hit communities with equipment and firefighters. The president said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency guaranteed reimbursement for Texas and Oklahoma’s emergency expenses.

The size and scope of the fire are the biggest challenges for the firefighters, according to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

Kidd wants the community to feel safe, that all the fires will be under control eventually. “This is still a very dynamic situation.”

After seeing his neighbors’ homes destroyed by flames that stopped just on the edge of their property, he was prepared for what would happen.

We get four seasons in a single week around here. “It can be hot, hot and windy, and it will be snowing the next day. It’s just this time of year.

Source: Gov. Abbott says Texas wildfires may have destroyed up to 500 structures

The 2014 Smokehouse Fire: Where are we? Where do we come from? How did we get there and what season did we go?

The main disassembles America’s nuclear arsenal was not open for operations on Tuesday night due to flames, but was open for normal work on Wednesday. The small town of Fritch, which lost hundreds of homes in a 2014 fire, saw 40 to 50 more destroyed this week, Mayor Tom Ray said.

I left Cincinnati two weeks before the Smokehouse fire broke out and arrived in Seattle a few days later. There was almost no snow, lakes and rivers, from the Ohio River to the Rockies, when I was 30,000 feet below my window seat. I am a northerner and know what february looks like, but what season was this?