Texas firefighters race to get the blaze under control as warm, windy weather approaches

Firefighters had a smaller window Thursday to battle wildfires raging in the Texas Panhandle as forecasters expected higher wind speeds and hotter, drier air to return this weekend.

The largest fire, called the Smokehouse Creek fire, was far from contained Wednesday evening; about 3 percent of it was under control. At 850,000 acres, its size more than quadrupled in one day and was approaching the record for the largest fire ever recorded in Texas, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Firefighters have been dispatched from across the state, including as far away as the region Lubbock And Fort Worthunder Governor Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration on Tuesday.

“They have a short window to try to get a handle on it before the winds pick up again,” said Edward Andrade, chief forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Amarillo.

Forecasters said firefighters could be helped Thursday by weaker winds and cooler temperatures, which were expected to stick around in the 30s and 40s, Mr. Andrade said. There was a small chance of light rain or snow, although he said that would not be enough to extinguish the fires.

But on Saturday, high winds, around 30 miles per hour, were forecast to return, and temperatures were expected to rise back into the 70s. Such conditions, which were likely to continue Sunday, could accelerate the spread of the fire and hamper firefighting efforts, he said.

“It is possible that the Smokehouse Creek fire complex could become the largest fire in the state,” Mr. Andrade said in an interview, adding that the current record was held by a wildfire that started east of Amarillo in 2006 and grew to about 907,000 hectares. .

The rugged terrain of the Canadian River Valley, where the fire started, was another major obstacle for firefighters because there were cliffs, valleys and steep hills where fire trucks couldn’t reach, he said.

The Smokehouse Creek fire, combined with other nearby fires, encompassed at least 11 counties by early Thursday, on land often used for agriculture and ranching, Mr. Andrade said. Fires have destroyed or damaged dozens of homes in the town of Canadian in Hemphill County.

Texas A&M Forest Service said in its statement predictions that the Texas Panhandle’s fire danger would increase from “high” on Thursday to “very high” on Friday and Saturday.

Mr Andrade urged residents to exercise caution. “We are asking people to practice fire safety prevention to prevent more fires from happening,” he said.