Multiple Texas wildfires scorching acres of land, officials say

After several days of wildfire weather condition warnings across the Lone Star State, several fires have begun to blaze across North Texas – namely the Texas Panhandle. The fires all appear to have ignited Monday afternoon, February 26, and many continue to burn well into Tuesday morning.

In all, roughly 75,0000 acres have burned in Texas since Monday.

It’s been a fiery couple days in the Texas Panhandle as three larger-scale fires have ignited thousands of acres across the northern-most section of the state. With dry air, windy conditions, and warmer than usual weather, National Weather Service officials warned conditions were prime for the quick spread of wildfires. And that’s exactly what’s happening.

“Texas A&M Forest Service has raised the Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to Level 2 due to an increase in current and expected wildfire activity,” the Texas A&M Forest Service shared on Facebook Monday, February 26. “Dry conditions and above normal temperatures have resulted in areas of underlying dryness. With the addition of increased wind speeds, the fire environment is expected to support wildfire activity over the next few weeks. Preparedness Levels 1-5 in state are planning assumptions and actions dictated by fuel and weather conditions, fire activity and fire suppression resource availability.”

A map from the Texas A&M Forest Service which identifies wildfires currently burning across the state shows five active fires mostly isolated to North Texas and the Texas Panhandle. Moore, Gray, and Hutchinson counties are among the regions impacted heavily by the continued burns. As of Monday night, officials estimated 40,000 acres were ablaze in Hutchinson County, which is home to Stinnett, Texas.

“The Hutchinson 0317 Fire in Hutchinson County is now named the Smoke House Creek Fire,” the Texas A&M Forest Service tweeted shortly before 10 p.m. Monday night. “The fire remains an estimated 40,000 acres and 0% contained.”

The Texas A&M wildfire map continued to show the fire was 0% contained as of Tuesday morning.

The fire in Gray County, named the Grape Vine Creek Fire, ignited 30,000 acres, according to the map, and was 15% contained as of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. The Moore County fire scorched more than 4,000 acres before it was successfully doused Monday afternoon.

“Explosive behavior continues with three large and extremely dangerous wildfires in the Texas Panhandle,” Texas Storm Chasers tweeted Monday evening. “We’ve seen 10-20+ mile runs to the east this afternoon. Similiar to worse fire weather conditions on Tuesday. Not going to be easy for crews to get a handle tonight.”