Perilous Times and
Climate Change
Wildfires sweeping across West Texas destroyed 60 homes
scorch 90,000 acres; 1 death
(AP)
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — Wildfires sweeping across West Texas
destroyed dozens of homes, forced evacuations and closed an
interstate after heavy smoke caused a fatal accident Sunday, and
winds fueling the fires weren't expected to weaken overnight.
The fires blackened almost 88,000 acres and destroyed 60 homes
from the Texas Panhandle to the southern plains, Texas Forest
Service spokesman Lewis Kearney said.
Heavy smoke from a wildfire near Midland, about 330 miles west of
Dallas, was blamed for an eight-vehicle accident along Interstate
20 that killed a 5-year-old girl. The roadway was shrouded in
smoke when a tractor-trailer hit the pickup truck she was riding
in, said Trooper John Barton of the Texas Department of Public
Safety. A man and another child were injured.
One firefighter suffered second-degree burns fighting a blaze near
Colorado City, about 250 miles west of Dallas, but no other
injuries were immediately reported.
The largest fire burned about 30,000 acres in the Panhandle
northeast of Amarillo, destroying 27 homes and damaging seven
others, Kearney said. A local kennel also was burned, but it was
unclear how many animals died, said local emergency management
spokeswoman Donna Makkhavane.
One of those homes belonged to Daniel Cook, a volunteer
firefighter in Palisades. He said he heard the news over the
radio.
Cook, 34, was staying at a shelter in a church south of Amarillo
that was set up after residents were evacuated. He said someone
told him that his "whole street was ash."
"I'm glad everyone got out safe," Cook said, noting that his uncle
and his two dogs safely fled the house. "There is nothing you can
do. You can't stop what you're doing to go protect your home."
Gusty winds that were fueling the wildfires weren't expected to
weaken overnight, said Mark Stanford, chief of fire operations for
the Texas Forest Service. He said conditions were "very severe."
Aircraft that help gather information about the scattered fires
couldn't get into the air because of the winds. But humidity rose
to about 25 percent in the Amarillo area by nightfall, which could
offer some relief to firefighters, Stanford said.
Another wildfire scorched about 21,000 acres in a remote area
north of Midland, just east of the Texas-New Mexico line. No homes
were reported damaged, but smoke from the blaze was blamed for the
accident that killed Cameron Dominguez, 5, and injured Juan
Dominguez, 30, and 9-year-ol Elijah Arp. Juan Dominguez was in
stable condition at Midland Memorial Hospital late Sunday and
Elijah had been treated and released, hospital spokesman Mike Ross
said.
The blaze that injured the firefighter near Colorado City
destroyed three large oil storage tanks, two homes and an
outbuilding. A hospital and nursing home in the city were
evacuated late Sunday as a 1,000-acre wildfire approached, Kearney
said.
Evacuations also were ordered in Matador, about 130 miles
southeast of Amarillo, as a wildfire burning across 500 acres bore
down on the town of 650 residents. Motley County Judge Jim Meador
said the fire was threatening the south side of Matador late
Sunday, and the evacuation order was expected to extend into at
least Monday morning.
"It's still going good. It's moved through the southern edge of
town and hasn't been contained. You can't see that area very good
because of the smoke, but I've got reports of two homes burned,"
he said.
A wildfire also prompted evacuations in parts of Borger, about 40
miles northeast of Amarillo, though local officials said the
imminent threat had eased as of nightfall Sunday.
Associated Press writer Terry Wallace contributed to this report
from Dallas.