But he predicted the overall impact on the Texas cattle industry and on consumer prices for beef would be minimal. Miller said individual ranchers could suffer devastating losses. “They’ll have burned hooves, burned udders.” “There’ll be cattle that we’ll have to euthanize,” Miller said.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller estimated cattle deaths to be in the thousands, with more likely to come. The small town of Fritch, which lost hundreds of homes in a 2014 fire, saw 40 to 50 more destroyed this week, Mayor Tom Ray said. It’s just that time of year.”Įncroaching flames caused the main facility that disassembles America’s nuclear arsenal to pause operations Tuesday night, but it was open for normal work by Wednesday. “It can be hot, hot and windy, and it will be snowing the next day. “Around here, the weather, we get all four seasons in a week,” Kaslon said. Jeremiah Kaslon, 39, a Stinnett resident who saw neighbors’ homes destroyed by flames that stopped just on the edge of his property, seemed prepared for what the changing forecast might bring. “This is still a very dynamic situation.” “I don’t want the community there to feel a false sense of security that all these fires will not grow anymore,” Kidd said. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said the weekend forecast and “sheer size and scope” of the blaze are the biggest challenges for firefighters. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties and planned to visit the Panhandle on Friday. So we’re standing with everyone affected by these wildfires and we’re going to continue to help you respond and recover.” “Just communities and families looking for help. “When disasters strike, there’s no red states or blue states where I come from,” Biden said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has guaranteed Texas and Oklahoma will be reimbursed for their emergency costs, the president said. President Joe Biden, who was in Texas on Thursday to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, said he directed federal officials to do “everything possible” to assist fire-affected communities, including sending firefighters and equipment. Her grandson, Lee Quesada, said deputies told his uncle Wednesday that they had found Blankenship’s remains in her burned home. The other victim, an 83-year-old woman, was identified by family members as Joyce Blankenship, a former substitute teacher. She got out of her truck, and flames overtook her.Ī passerby found Owen and called first responders, who took her to a burn unit in Oklahoma. Chris Ray of the state’s Department of Public Safety. But with flames still menacing a wide area, authorities had yet to conduct a thorough search for victims or tally the numerous homes and other structures damaged or destroyed.Ĭindy Owen was driving in Texas’ Hemphill County south of Canadian on Tuesday afternoon when she encountered fire or smoke, said Sgt. Two women were the only confirmed deaths so far this week. Previously, the largest fire in recorded state history was the 2006 East Amarillo Complex fire, which burned about 1,400 square miles (3,630 square kilometers) and resulted in 13 deaths. “When the fire isn’t blowing up and moving very fast, firefighters are able to actually catch up and get to those parts of the fire.”Īuthorities said 1,640 square miles (4,248 square kilometers) of the fire were on the Texas side of the border. “The rain and the snow is beneficial right now, we’re using it to our advantage,” Texas A&M Forest Service spokesman Juan Rodriguez said of the Smokehouse Creek fire. “We’re just hitting all the hot spots around town, the houses that have already burned.”Īuthorities have not said what ignited the fires, but strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm temperatures fed the blazes. “The snow helps,” said Jones, who was among a dozen firefighters called in from Lubbock to help.