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Multiple wildfires are burning across the Texas panhandle, prompting evacuations and briefly shutting down a major nuclear weapons plant on Tuesday night.
The Smokehouse Creek fire is now the largest in state history as it burns 1,075,000 acres alone, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. It remains just 3 per cent contained.
The active fires in Texas are represented by red dots on this map of the US
(Texas A&M Forest Service)
One person has also died as a result of the fires: 83-year-old Joyce Blankenship of Hutchinson County.
Active fires are represented by red dots, while controlled fires are represented by gray dots. The brown dots indicate a contained fire.
(Texas A&M Forest Service)
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties on Tuesday as the fires rapidly grew in size.
The Smokehouse Creek fire is the northernmost fire, burning in Hutchinson County close to the much smaller 687 Reamer fire. Meanwhile, the smaller Grape Vine Creek fire is 60 per cent contained, and the Magenta fire is 40 per cent contained.
The 687 Reamer fire is at 10 per cent containment and has burned 2,000 acres.
Red dots represent active fires on this map of the Texas Panhandle
(Texas A&M Forest Service)
The Windy Deuce fire, which is burning 40,000 acres at 20 per cent containment, has scorched southern Moore County. This fire is just north of Potter County and caused the Pantex Plant — America’s main facility for assembling and disassembling nuclear weapons — to briefly close operations on Tuesday night. The plant resumed normal operations Wednesday morning, according to its website.
The Grape Vine Creek fire is the westernmost, burning 30,000 acres in Gray County. Firefighters have the blaze 60 per cent contained as of Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, the Magenta fire, burning just 2,000 acres at 40 per cent containment, is in Oldham County.
The National Weather Service has predicted weather conditions favourable to limiting the spread of the fires are on the way, with cooler temperatures and weak winds.
The Smokehouse Creek and 687 Reamer fires are burning in Hutchinson County
(Texas A&M Forest Service)
The Windy Deuce fire, represented by the red dot, is burning in southern Moore County
(Texas A&M Forest Service)
The Grape Vine Creek fire is burning in Gray County
(Texas A&M Forest Service)
The Magenta fire is burning in Oldham County
(Texas A&M Forest Service)