Texas wildfires

14 Stories

In Texas' Biggest Wildfire, Utility Issues a Mea Culpa

Xcel Energy says its facilities 'appear to have been involved' in starting the Smokehouse Creek Fire

(Newser) - The utility provider Xcel Energy said Thursday that its facilities appeared to have played a role in igniting a massive wildfire in the Texas Panhandle that grew to the largest blaze in state history. Texas officials have said they're still investigating the cause of the fire that has burned...

After Battling Wildfires for a Week, Fire Chief Dies at House Fire

Tragedy in Texas leaves two sons without a father

(Newser) - A Texas fire chief whose small town was among the hardest hit last week by historic blazes sweeping across the Panhandle died Tuesday while fighting a house fire, authorities said. The house fire that Fritch Fire Chief Zeb Smith, 40, responded to wasn't caused by a wildfire, but Smith...

Texas Fire Leaves Behind a Desolate Landscape

Largest wildfire in state history is just 5% contained

(Newser) - As the largest wildfire in Texas history engulfed his town, Danny Phillips was left helpless. "We had to watch from a few miles away as our neighborhood burned," he said, his voice trembling with emotion. In his hard-hit town of Stinnett, population roughly 1,600, families like his...

The Force of the Texas Wildfire, in 5 Stats

Blaze, now the largest in Texas history, remains 3% contained

(Newser) - It took just four days for a spark to become the largest wildfire ever seen in Texas. The Smokehouse Creek Fire that erupted Monday had spread to roughly 1.1 million acres on Thursday, topping the 2006 East Amarillo Complex Fire, which burned 907,245 acres, per the Houston Chronicle...

Wildfire Is Now 2nd-Biggest in Texas History

Smokehouse Creek fire has scorched 850K acres in 3 days

(Newser) - The largest of several wildfires burning in the Texas Panhandle is now the second-largest in state history. The Smokehouse Creek Fire, which started on Monday, grew to 850,000 acres Wednesday and was only 3% contained, CNN reports. The largest fire on record, the 2006 East Amarillo Complex fire, which...

Wildfire Emergency Declared in 60 Texas Counties
Texas Fire 'Looks
Like Armageddon'
Feb 27, 2024 11:07 PM CST

Texas Fire 'Looks Like Armageddon'

Wildfire that started Monday is already 5th-largest in state history

(Newser) - With multiple fires raging in the Texas Panhandle, Gov. Greg Abbott has declared a state of emergency in 60 counties. Multiple communities have been evacuated and mandatory evacuation orders are in place in Moore and Potter counties, reports the Amarillo Globe-News . In Hemphill County, the sheriff's office issued a...

Wildfire's Source: Sunshine, Magnified by Glass Bottles

500-acre Texas blaze took 8 days to contain

(Newser) - Sunlight magnified by glass bottles in an open garbage can ignited paper trash, starting a 500-acre north Texas wildfire that destroyed five homes, fire officials said Thursday. The July 18 fire on Possum Kingdom Lake's western shore, about 70 miles west of Fort Worth, took eight days to fully...

Deputy 'Engulfed' in Blaze Raging Across Texas

Deputy Sgt. Barbara Fenley died while reportedly trying to check on an elderly resident

(Newser) - Fire crews in Texas hope to make progress Saturday against a massive complex of wildfires that have killed one person and burned at least 50 homes, officials said. Winds were expected to diminish on Saturday, raising hopes for the attack on the flames, said a spokesman for the task force...

Texas Wildfire Toll: 1,386 Homes, 2 Lives

Bastrop fire just 30% contained

(Newser) - Texas’ Bastrop Wildfire has already been named the state’s worst ever , and it continues to rage: Now 1,386 homes have been destroyed, and the fire is just 30% contained. Two people have died, one of them a city of Austin employee found inside his home. The fire has...

Texas Fires' Toll: 1,000 Homes and Counting

Firefighters still trying to contain blazes fed by Tropical Storm Lee

(Newser) - More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in at least 57 wildfires across rain-starved Texas, most of them in one devastating blaze near Austin that is still raging out of control, officials said today. Gov. Rick Perry, who cut short a presidential campaign trip to South Carolina to return...

Texas Bastrop Wildfire Burns 500 Homes
 Texas Wildfire Is 'Worst Ever' 
Sep 6, 2011 7:48 AM CDT

Texas Wildfire Is 'Worst Ever'

Nearly 500 homes destroyed; 3.5M acres charred this year

(Newser) - Wildfires continued to ravage Central Texas yesterday as firefighters battled the most devastating single fire in Texas history, the Los Angeles Times reports. As of yesterday, 476 homes had been destroyed in Bastrop County, east of Austin; firefighters battled the flames as they tore through thousands of acres. With 40...

300 Homes Go Up in Texas Fire
 300 Homes Go Up in Texas Fire 
Sep 5, 2011 1:28 AM CDT

300 Homes Go Up in Texas Fire

Mom, child killed in separate blaze in tinderbox state

(Newser) - A mother and child have been killed in a blaze near Dallas, while another "catastrophic" Texas wildfire has destroyed 300 homes and sent thousands of residents near Austin fleeing for their lives. The 16-mile-long Austin fire has burned through 14,000 acres and is now threatening an additional 700...

Hutchison: Obama Has 'Bias' Against Texas

GOP senator claims president doesn't like Lone Star state

(Newser) - GOP Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison thinks President Obama has it out for Texas. "I see a bias in this administration," she said on MSNBC today. Specifically, she cites the denial of federal disaster funds for the state's recent wildfires and claims that Obama is reluctant to help...

Texas Gov. Declares 'Pray for Rain' Days

And hey, there was a drizzle near Fort Worth yesterday

(Newser) - With Texas in the midst of an historic drought and battling thousands of wildfires, Gov. Rick Perry has decided to ask for some divine intervention. The governor issued a proclamation yesterday officially declaring April 22-24 “Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas.” (You can see...

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