Live updates on the Smokehouse Creek fire in Texas Panhandle

The Windy Deuce fire, which prompted the brief shutdown of America’s main nuclear weapons plant, has grown to 90,000 acres while remaining at 25 per cent containment.

Meanwhile, the Smokehouse Creek fire grew by hundreds of thousands of acres on Wednesday, shooting up from 500,000 to 850,000 acres in size. It is only 3 per cent contained as of Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters have contained 3 per cent of the Smokehouse Creek fire, the second-largest in Texas history. However, the blaze has now burned 850,000 acres, up significantly from the 500,000 reported early Wednesday morning.

The largest fire in state history, meanwhile, burned just over 900,000 acres. Smokehouse Creek could become the largest fire in Texas history if it is not contained soon.

Over the past two days, high winds, dry grass conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures have fuelled several fires throughout the Texas panhandle.

Now, the National Weather Service for Amarillo says Wednesday will bring cool temperatures with weak winds, as well as a rain/snow mix to southern portions of the panhandle.

This could prevent new fires from sparking, as well as limit the spread of existing blazes. A reprieve from powerful winds is sorely needed as firefighters struggle to control the Smokehouse Creek fire, which is burning through 500,000 acres at zero per cent containment as of Wednesday afternoon.

On Wednesday morning, the Hutchinson County Office of Emergency Management said many homes had been lost and some were actively on fire, especially in the small city of Fritch, Texas.

“I don’t think a lot of the folks that live in the Fritch area are probably going to be prepared for what they’re going to see as they pull into town,” a spokesperson with the office said. “Some homes were completely lost and some, honestly, are still standing and just fine.”

The Smokehouse Creek fire burning in the northern Texas panhandle is the second-largest blaze in state history, according to data from the Texas A&M Forest Service.

The blaze doubled in size on Tuesday, burning more than 500,000 acres at zero per cent containment as of Wednesday afternoon. The largest fire in state history burned just over 900,000 acres.

The Smokehouse Creek fire is now just over half the size of Rhode Island — which takes up over 700,000 acres — and is 11 times the size of the nation’s capital, Washington, DC.

The Windy Deuce fire, which prompted the brief shutdown of America’s major nuclear weapons plant on Tuesday night, is now 25 per cent contained.

That’s up 5 percentage points from earlier today as fire crews work to contain the five fires in the Texas panhandle.

The largest blaze, the Smokehouse Creek fire, is still 0 per cent contained as of Wednesday afternoon.

The second-largest fire in Texas has now moved into northwestern Oklahoma, causing evacuations and destruction in the towns of Gage and Shattuck, local outlet KOCO reports.

The fire has already scorched 100,000 acres in Oklahoma, on top of the hundreds of thousands of acres already burned in Texas.