Story at a glance
- Multiple wildfires are burning in the Texas panhandle, leading to evacuation orders.
- The Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Hutchinson County grew to 500,000 acres Wednesday, making it the second-largest wildfire in Texas history.
- The fire jumped into parts of neighboring Oklahoma, and is now larger than the state of Rhode Island.
TEXAS PANHANDLE (KXAN) — Residents in several counties of Texas’ panhandle were issued evacuation orders as multiple wildfires burned and spread in the area.
One of the fires, the Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Hutchinson County, grew to 500,000 acres Wednesday, making it the second-largest wildfire in Texas history, according to maps and archives from the Texas A&M Forest Service. The fire jumped into parts of neighboring Oklahoma, and is now larger than the state of Rhode Island.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said the flames were only about 3% contained. Authorities warned that the damage to communities on the high plains could be extensive.
For more perspective on the size of the Smokehouse Creek fire, it is nearly three times the size of the City of Austin by measure of acres.
Smoke rises from smoldering hay bales outside the town of Canadian, Texas on Wednesday, Feb 28, 2024. A fast-moving wildfire burning through the Texas Panhandle grew into the second-largest blaze in state history Wednesday, forcing evacuations and triggering power outages as firefighters struggled to contain the widening flames.(AP Photo/Sean Murphy) 
Smoke rises from smoldering hay bales outside the town of Canadian, Texas on Wednesday, Feb 28, 2024. A fast-moving wildfire burning through the Texas Panhandle grew into the second-largest blaze in state history Wednesday, forcing evacuations and triggering power outages as firefighters struggled to contain the widening flames. (AP Photo/Sean Murphy) 
Smoke rises from smoldering hay bales outside the town of Canadian, Texas on Wednesday, Feb 28, 2024. A fast-moving wildfire burning through the Texas Panhandle grew into the second-largest blaze in state history Wednesday, forcing evacuations and triggering power outages as firefighters struggled to contain the widening flames. (AP Photo/Sean Murphy)
The largest wildfire recorded in Texas history also occurred in Hutchinson County. Known as the East Amarillo Complex fire, it ignited on March 12, 2006, and burned 907,245 acres, according to the Forest Service. It is also recorded as the deadliest fire in Texas history, with 13 fatalities reported.
A video of charred pastures and columns of smoke seen in the distance was captured by KXAN’s Ryan Chandler on the drive to Canadian, Texas on Wednesday.
Authorities had not reported any deaths or injuries as of Wednesday morning while huge plumes of smoke billowed hundreds of feet in the air. But officials warned residents of potentially large property losses.
“There was one point where we couldn’t see anything,” said Greg Downey, 57, describing his escape from the flames as flames bore down on his neighborhood. “I didn’t think we’d get out of it.”
“When we came out, the sky had gone black.”
Hemphill County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Kendall described the charred terrain as being “like a moonscape. … It’s just all gone.”
Kendall said about 40 homes were burned around the perimeter of the town of Canadian, but no buildings were lost inside the community.
Another video showed debris left behind from buildings that were destroyed in the area.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties. The encroaching flames caused the main facility that disassembles America’s nuclear arsenal to pause operations Tuesday night, but it was open for normal work on Wednesday.
The blazes tore through sparsely populated counties on the vast, high plains that are punctuated by cattle ranches and oil rigs.
The weather forecast provided some hope for firefighters — cooler temperatures, less wind and possibly rain on Thursday. But for now, the situation was dire in some areas.
Sustained winds of up to 45 mph, with gusts of up to 70 mph, caused the fires that were spreading east to turn south, threatening new areas, forecasters said. But winds calmed down after a cold front came through Tuesday evening, said Peter Vanden Bosch, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Amarillo.
“Fortunately, the winds have weakened quite significantly,” Vanden Bosch said Wednesday. Breezy conditions were expected again Friday, and fire-friendly weather could return by the weekend, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.