DISASTER Wildfire Amarillo Texas 1.1 million acres burning

V

Voortrekker

Veteran Member
From my tablet and bad streaming. I am in Amarillo and the smoke is thick. Several towns have been evacuated, US 287 closed, I 40 closed. Canadian, Texas evacuated.

200,000 acres, cold winds approaching, I hope I do not have to evacuate from this truck stop. Mitch's BBQ brisket sounds good about now.
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
That fire is a monster.

Almost 300,000 acres, 0% contained.

It's stretched out for 150miles, from what I can tell.

Smokehouse Creek Fire​

Follow this fire
Fire Status
ACTIVE
Size:
250,000 acres
Initial Location:
1.9 miles NNE of Stinnett, TX
Fuels:
Tall Grass (2.5 feet), Tall Grass (2.5 feet)



Office of Satellite and Product Operations - Hazard Mapping System​

The Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) is part of the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS). NESDIS is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Department of Commerce.
www.ospo.noaa.gov
www.ospo.noaa.gov
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
The Traveler said:
Like Millwright said, not unexpected. High winds today throughout Texas, hell even here in the Golden Triangle we had winds over 20MPH sustained. All it takes is a spark in the high plains and its on. Prayers said for the first responders and the people in the path of this.
Click to expand...
And such fires create their own 'weather systems,' creating even higher winds.
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
Countrymouse said:
Oh my god.

Are they about to repeat Lahaina? (Hawaii)
Click to expand...
THIS sounds like they ARE:

Officials have ordered nearly 5,000 residents in the Panhandle cities of Canadian, Fritch and Glazier to shelter in place Tuesday as four separate wildfires engulfed the region, burning more than 280,000 acres.

WTH?!?!?!???

Wildfires across the Texas Panhandle force residents to evacuate, seek shelter​


Firefighters are working to contain the ongoing spread of wildfires as red flag conditions persist.


by Jayme Lozano Carver

Feb. 27, 20243 hours ago


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Wildfires have erupted in the Texas Panhandle this week.

Wildfires have erupted in the Texas Panhandle this week. Credit: Screenshot from Texas A&M Forest Service video.

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Officials have ordered nearly 5,000 residents in the Panhandle cities of Canadian, Fritch and Glazier to shelter in place Tuesday as four separate wildfires engulfed the region, burning more than 280,000 acres.

Residents in Hemphill County, where Canadian is, were initially told to evacuate as the Smokehouse Creek fire — the largest of the four — spread and burned more than 250,000 acres within a day. As firefighters worked to contain the fire in Canadian, about 100 miles northeast of Amarillo, evacuation efforts hit a snag as the main roadway was blocked by the fire.

Shortly after the mandatory order was announced, the Hemphill County Sheriff’s Office shared on social media that Highway 60/83 was shut down. The sheriff’s office instructed residents to go to the gym at Canadian High School to shelter in place.

“Having them all in one place is the safest option at this time,” said Stephanie Purcell, a representative for the sheriff’s office.



Purcell said the wind could possibly push the fire towards Highway 33 in Canadian as well.

“There were earlier evacuation orders, but it got to the point where the fire was close enough that it was no longer safe to travel on those roads,” said Kari Hines, a public information officer for Texas A&M Forest Service. “It’s safer to stay inside structures, at least while the main body of the fire passes.”

Hines said crews have responded from across the state and are working in long shifts to contain the fire before taking breaks to rest. With a cold front coming in, Hines said firefighters are preparing for another shift in the winds that might move the fire further.

Photos and videos on social media show the small towns surrounded by smoke billowing into the air, turning the sky a brown hue, as the fires continued. In Stinnett, the wildfire has already burned more than 250,000 acres since it started on Monday afternoon. It was not contained as of Tuesday afternoon.

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The High Plains region was under a red flag warning to start the week, as warmer temperatures were expected along with strong winds. According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, the Smokehouse Creek fire started in tall grasses, and wind gusts that ranged from 40-50 miles per hour pushed the fire towards Pampa, about 40 miles southeast.


The Grape Vine Creek fire near Pampa in Gray County is the second biggest active fire threatening the region. It also has not been contained by firefighters yet, and has burned 30,000 acres. Pampa city officials were suggesting voluntary evacuations as of Tuesday afternoon.


The City of Fritch in nearby Hutchinson County has been evacuated.


Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration covering 60 counties in response to the wildfire activity, calling for the Texas Division of Emergency Management to send additional resources and firefighters to the Panhandle.

www.texastribune.org

Wildfires across the Texas Panhandle force residents to evacuate, seek shelter

Firefighters are working to contain the ongoing spread of wildfires as red flag conditions persist.
www.texastribune.org www.texastribune.org
 
stormie

stormie

Veteran Member
Pantex is a nuclear weapons assembly plant northeast of Amarillo. There is an uncontained fire north of the Pantex. They are giving updates on their facebook page as well as on twitter. Latest is that non essential staff have evacuated, however the fire is not at Pantex at this time. They are constructing a fire barrier to protect the plant.
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city

Disaster declaration issued as dangerous wildfires burn nearly 300K acres in Texas Panhandle​

Story by Dinah Voyles Pulver and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY • 47m

MSN

www.msn.com

1709090224826.jpeg

A massive wildfire is burning out of control in the Texas Panhandle after growing to more than 250,000 acres in size on Tuesday, fueled by high winds, hotter-than-normal temperatures and dry conditions.


The Smokehouse Creek Fire, burning between Canadian and Stinnett, exploded in size, growing from 40,000 acres to 200,000 acres in just six hours. The fire had burned over more than 400 square miles, an area more than 100 square miles larger than New York City.



The rapidly advancing fire was among several wild weather events occurring Tuesday including potential tornadoes in Illinois and a swath of record-high temperatures in the eastern half of the nation.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties to enable critical resources to be deployed to wildfires burning in the state. The Smokehouse Creek fire is the largest of four large fires burning in the state, but they are among 13 fires that started on Monday.


Fire warnings and evacuations are in effect in many locations, the National Weather Service in Amarillo reported Tuesday night. On Tuesday evening, strong winds gusting ahead of a cold front moving across the nation were gusting to 50 mph in the region.


Juan Rodriguez, a public information officer with the Texas A&M Forest Service, described a dangerous, rapidly changing situation in an update to the National Interagency Coordination Center.

VIDEO AT LINK from reporter at Sage Mesa, TX:

("MSN" IS the link)

MSN

www.msn.com

1709090179253.png
 
mzkitty

mzkitty

I give up.
1709090263377.png

Published: Feb. 27, 2024 at 10:02 PM EST| Updated: 13 minutes ago

CANADIAN, Texas (AP) - A rapidly widening Texas wildfire more than doubled in size Tuesday and prompted evacuation orders in small towns as strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm temperatures fueled the blaze in the state’s rural Panhandle.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties as the largest fire burned nearly 400 square miles (1,040 square kilometers), according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. That is more than twice its size since the fire sparked Monday. Authorities have not said what might have caused the blaze, which tore through sparsely populated counties surrounded by rolling plains.

“Texans are urged to limit activities that could create sparks and take precautions to keep their loved ones safe,” Abbott said.

The largest blaze, known as the Smokehouse Creek Fire, closed highways and remained 0% contained as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Forest Service.

Multiple fires were reported across Hemphill and Hutchinson counties, near the Oklahoma border. Texas state Sen. Kevin Sparks said an evacuation order was issued for the town of Canadian, a town of about 2,000 about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Amarillo, and other areas. Later Tuesday, the Hemphill County Sheriff’s Office urged anyone who remained in Canadian to shelter in place or at the high school gym because roads were closed.

Evacuations were also ordered in nearby Miami, and schools in Canadian and Miami announced closures Wednesday. East of Canadian, fire officials across the border in the area of Durham, Oklahoma, also encouraged people to evacuate because of the fire.

Evacuations were also taking place in Skellytown, Wheeler, Allison and Briscoe, according to the National Weather Service in Amarillo.

About 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Canadian, city officials in Pampa on Facebook suggested that residents evacuate to the south and said buses were available for that purpose. The Smokehouse Creek Fire was burning to the north.

To the west, at least some residents in the small city of Fritch were told to leave their homes Tuesday afternoon because of another fire that had jumped a highway.

“Everything south of Highway 146 in Fritch evacuate now!” city officials said on Facebook.

By Tuesday evening, the fires were 20 to 25 miles (32 to 40 kilometers) from Amarillo, and wind was blowing wildfire smoke into the city, which could affect people with respiratory issues, weather service officials said.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings and fire danger alerts for several other states through the midsection of the country, as high winds of over 40 mph (64 kph) combined with warm temperatures, low humidity and dry winter vegetation to make conditions ripe for wildfires.

In central Nebraska, a mower sparked a prairie fire that has burned a huge swath of grassland roughly the size of the state’s largest city of Omaha, state officials said Tuesday.

www.kwch.com

Rapidly expanding wildfires in the Texas Panhandle prompt evacuations

A rapidly widening Texas wildfire more than doubled in size Tuesday and prompted evacuation orders in small towns as strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm temperatures fueled the blaze in the state’s rural Panhandle.
www.kwch.com www.kwch.com
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
Millwright said:
15+ kt in that area.

www.windy.com

Windy as forecasted

Wind map and weather forecast
www.windy.com www.windy.com
Click to expand...
For those of us not in the maritime trades, here is a link for a conversion chart from KNOTS to MPH:

Knots to Miles per hour conversion: knots to mph calculator

Knots to Miles per hour (knots to mph) conversion calculator for Speed conversions with additional tables and formulas.
www.metric-conversions.org www.metric-conversions.org

And it sure as heck looks faster than 17-18 mph winds in those videos above.
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
Countrymouse said:
There are THREE wildfires, not one:

Smokehouse Creek Fire
Juliet Pass Fire
Grape Vine Creek fire


View attachment 462765
Click to expand...

Found this map of some of the wildfires--don't know if it includes all three of the named ones above or not, or more:

1709091376753.png
www.usatoday.com

The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas has charred more than 250,000 acres with no containment

Drier-than-usual conditions contributed to the Smokehouse Creek wildfire, forcing evacuations, but the cause is still under investigation.
www.usatoday.com
 
TxGal

TxGal

Day by day
We're way down to the southeast comparatively, in the Brazos Valley, and we're having a big cold front blow in from the north before dawn tomorrow. Winds estimated to be 35 mph, at least one county around us has declared a burn ban, for obvious reasons. We've been dry of late after some heavy rain weeks ago.

This is horrible, sending prayers up for everyone affected/who may be affected.
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
Live updates at below link:

31 min ago
www.cnn.com

Live updates: Texas, Oklahoma Smokehouse Creek Fire

An out-of-control wildfire is threatening Texas Panhandle towns and forcing residents to evacuate.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

More than 200 people are sheltering in a church in Fritch, including some who've lost homes​

From CNN's Sharif Paget

More than 200 people are sheltering in a church in Fritch, Texas, after raging wildfires forced people to flee their homes Tuesday afternoon, church leaders say.

"We have a lot of people at the facility who confirmed they lost their homes," Celebration Family Church pastor Dwight Kirksey told CNN. "Of course, they're devastated and heartbroken."

A team of more than 50 volunteers has been consoling the displaced community members, said Kirksey, who also serves as Hutchinson County commissioner.

"They've been comforting the needs of the heart with hugs and embraces and letting them know that they're here with us and alive and we'll get through this."

Outside, thick smoke has darkened the sky and reduced visibility to about 100 yards or less, Kirksey said. Bobby Mac, a church elder, said some homes can be seen burning from the church.

Several people sheltering at the church initially tried to ride out the blaze but had to flee when flames reached their homes, Mac said.

Mac described the residents of West Texas as tough and resilient, so he's not surprised they decided to hunker down.

"But when a wildfire is blowing through your town there's not a whole lot you can do," he said.
 
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