CNN
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Deadly wildfires that have already torn through more than 1 million acres of Texas and Oklahoma are only expected to pick up speed as ferocious winds and dry air sweep in to fan the flames Friday and through the weekend.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire is already the largest fire on record in Texas after swallowing 1,075,000 acres in the state and it’s only 3% contained. It has also scorched more than 31,500 acres in Oklahoma as of Wednesday afternoon, that state’s forestry service said. Altogether, the fire is among the largest in the Lower 48 since reliable record-keeping began in the 1980s.
It is one of four wildfires tearing across the Texas Panhandle, reducing neighborhoods to rubble, displacing families, and charring swaths of rolling grasslands and cattle ranches that are crucial to the state’s agriculture industry. In total, the fires have burned a land area roughly the size of the state of Delaware.
Two people have died so far as a result of the fires, officials in the hard-hit Hutchinson and Hemphill Counties reported.
After a glimpse of rain Thursday, the fire risk will return to critical levels Saturday in parts of the Texas Panhandle and was expected to worsen through the weekend as gusty winds and low humidity combine with brittle vegetation to feed the blaze.
The heightened risk comes as Texans prepare to celebrate the state’s Independence Day, prompting urgent warnings from officials to exercise extreme caution when using fireworks.
• The Windy Deuce Fire has burned 142,000 acres and was 55% contained as of early Thursday afternoon, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
• The Grape Vine Creek Fire has torn through 30,000 acres and is 60% contained.
• The Magenta Fire has torched 3,300 acres and is 85% contained.
•Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is heading to the panhandle Friday and plans to hold an afternoon press conference.
•Rough terrain and topography have made it difficult for firefighters to access parts of the Smokehouse Creek Fire, Texas A&M Forest Service spokesperson Juan Rodriguez said Thursday evening. The agency has about 200 personnel battling the blaze, he added.
• Firefighters in Oklahoma’s Panhandle made some headway Thursday. The blaze was 40% contained in the state by Thursday evening and emergency crews plan to build a line around a particularly at-risk area in Ellis County on Friday to limit the spread, Oklahoma Forestry Services spokesman Keith Merckx said.
• The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch that extends from the Texas Panhandle into the Oklahoma Panhandle and neighboring states for the weekend. High temperatures in the area will be in the 70s on Friday and the 80s on Saturday and Sunday. Wind gusts could blow up to 40 mph by Sunday, according to the service’s office in Amarillo, Texas.
• A staggering 400,000 acres have been burned in Hemphill County, where scores of homes have been destroyed and thousands of cattle have died, Hemphill County AgriLife Extension agent Andy Holloway said.
• The city of Fritch, Texas, is under a boil water notice but that is “hard to do since many residents are without electricity and or gas,” Hutchinson County announced. Water bottles are being given away at several churches and other locations, officials said.
• Search and rescue crews have begun to clear neighborhoods in Hutchinson County. Officials there encouraged anyone who believes their loved one is missing to contact a Wildfire Information Line.
• Amarillo National Bank announced it is opening a Panhandle Disaster Relief Fund for wildfire victims, starting with its own $1 million donation.
Wildfires have torn through massive stretches of agricultural land and ranches across the Texas Panhandle, leaving thousands of dead cattle and incinerated equipment in its wake.
The Turkey Track Ranch, which has a storied 120-year history, estimates that 80% of its 80,000 acre property has been burned. Nicknamed the “Prize of the Panhandle,” the ranch boasted a sprawling vista of grasslands, valleys and pastures.
“The loss of livestock, crops, and wildlife, as well as ranch fencing and other infrastructure throughout our property, as well as other ranches and homes across the region is, we believe, unparalleled in our history,” the Turkey Track Ranch Family Group said in a statement.
But the group said it still hopeful for the land’s future. “Nature mends after fire and will grow again all the natural grasses, vegetation, and tree cover in our beloved ranch oasis.”
Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the damage could be “catastrophic” to the region.
“These fires not only threaten lives and property but will also have a substantial impact on our agriculture industry. Over 85% of the state’s cattle population is located on ranches in the Panhandle. There are millions of cattle out there, with some towns comprising more cattle than people,” Miller said in a news release.
The Texas Farm Bureau announced it has established the Texas Panhandle Wildfire Relief Fund to aid farmers and ranchers impacted by the fires.
Truck driver Cindy Owens was working about 50 miles north of Pampa, Texas, on Tuesday when she became caught in the Smokehouse Creek Fire, her sister-in-law told CNN.
“She basically couldn’t breathe and she evacuated the truck and tried to run for safety and didn’t make it,” said Jennifer Mitchell, who’s married to Owen’s brother. “So she was found with burns and it was about 90% of her body.”
Mitchell said Owen, 44, was on a video chat as the situation unfolded, so family members scrambled to find someone to help her.
Owen died as a result of the fire in Hemphill County, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Chris Ray said.
Mitchell said Cindy was devoted to her family “would do anything for anybody,” including pulling over on cold days to give people coats.
“She was everybody’s friend and everybody knew her … There’s nothing bad to say about her. She was the best person ever,” Mitchell said.
A second person died as a result of the fire in Hutchinson County, local officials said.
While officials didn’t publicly identify the victim, the family of Joyce Blankenship, 83, told CNN she died at her house in Stinnett.
“The house was gone,” Nathan Blankenship said. “There was no way she could’ve gotten out.”
Blankenship’s step-grandson, Lee Quesada, said she was well-known and beloved in the small community. Her husband, Jimmy, died in 2015.
“She used to be a substitute teacher in the area before she became a housewife while Jimmy worked at the local Phillips refinery,” Quesada said. “She will be missed by all.”
CNN’s David Williams, Andy Rose, Steve Almasy, Holly Yan and Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
