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Forbes
Forbes
2 Mar 2024


The second-largest wildfire in U.S. history will likely grow through the weekend as the Texas Panhandle experiences warm, dry weather, the National Weather Service warned Saturday, after hundreds of structures were destroyed this week while the blaze threatens thousands of livestock.

Texas's Record Wildfire Is So Big You Can See It From Space

A burned home following the Smokehouse Creek fire.

© 2024 Bloomberg Finance LP

The Texas Panhandle will be “at some level of risk” for dangerous wildfire spread as winds upward of 45 miles per hour and humidity below 10% are forecast for the region, according to the National Weather Service, which noted the region’s western side will be “under relatively more risk.”

The Smokehouse Creek fire—located north of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle—has spread to just over 1 million acres and is 15% contained as of Saturday morning, including 31,500 acres in Oklahoma, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Weather conditions prevented the wildfire from spreading on Thursday and Friday, the Forest Service said.

Sid Miller, the state’s agriculture commissioner, said Friday that affected farms or ranches have reported over a thousand missing or dead cattle and several dead horses, goats and sheep, though Miller said he expects those totals to continue rising.

State agriculture officials cautioned ranchers to continue evaluating their cattle after the wildfire, as associated symptoms—including burnt hooves or other injuries like severe tissue damage—may not show “for days to weeks.”

Texas Wildfires

A satellite image shows an overview of burn areas from the Smokehouse Creek wildfire in the town of ... [+] Canadian, Texas.

Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies
Texas's Record Wildfire Is So Big You Can See It From Space

A burned car and home following the Smokehouse Creek fire.

© 2024 Bloomberg Finance LP
Texas Wildfires

A business in Stinnett, Texas, was destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek Fire.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved
Texas Wildfires

Firefighters put out a hot spot from the Smokehouse Creek fire.

Associated Press
Texas Wildfires

Electrical crews, bottom, replace burnt power poles near a destroyed residence.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
 Texas

An aerial view of burnt area after a wildfire in Stinnett, Texas.

Anadolu via Getty Images
At least 2 dead after the largest wildfire in Texas

An aerial view of burnt area after a wildfire in Stinnett, Texas.

Anadolu via Getty Images
Texas issues disaster declaration as wildfires burn out of control

A fire truck driving toward the Smokehouse Creek fire at the Texas Panhandle region.

GREENVILLE PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION / HANDOUT
Texas issues disaster declaration as wildfires burn out of control

A view of the Smokehouse Creek fire from a fire truck.

Anadolu via Getty Images
Smokehouse Creek Fire In Texas Panhandle

Fire crosses a road in the Smokehouse Creek fire.

Getty Images

“We know that the loss of cattle is extraordinary,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday, adding state officials “are looking at the big picture, holistically, for ways in which we can assist both the ranchers and the farmers to be able to recover from this.”

85%. That’s how much of Texas’ cattle population is located in the Panhandle, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture. Agriculture added about $186.1 billion to the state’s economy in 2021, according to Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension report.

The Smokehouse Creek fire has destroyed about 500 structures and killed at least two people this week. The fire forced a major nuclear weapons assembly plant outside Amarillo to halt operations, though officials said weapons and materials at the site are “safe and unaffected” by the fire. High winds and dry conditions allowed the fire—which grew to 250,000 acres Tuesday afternoon—to quickly spread, prompting evacuations across the Texas Panhandle, while Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 northern Texas counties.

Texas Smokehouse Creek Wildfire: Over 1 Million Acres Burned In Second-Biggest Fire In U.S. History (Forbes)