EASTLAND, TEXAS — Low humidity and gusty winds fueled multiple wildfires Friday in Texas, burning homes and other structures and prompting evacuations of hundreds of homes in small communities.
Several wildfires merged to form what fire officials call a “complex” that was burning near Eastland, about 120 miles (195 kilometres) west of Dallas.
As of Friday morning, the fires had burned about 62.5 square miles (162 square kilometres), according to Texas A&M Forest Service. It was only 2% contained and fires were burning in thick brush and grass fields. The forest service warned that the “rare, high impact wildfire phenomenon” could also affect parts of Oklahoma and Kansas.
About 18,000 people live in Eastland County, where the large fire was burning. About 475 homes were evacuated in the town of Gorman, but officials don’t yet know how many structures may have burned, said Matthew Ford, spokesman for Texas A&M Forest Service.
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“Until we get more boots on the ground we don’t have an estimate” of the total numbers, Ford said Friday morning. “Our top priority is life, safety and protection of structures.”
Other smaller fires were burning throughout other areas of Texas, and Thursday’s low humidity and high winds created an ideal scenario for the blazes to quickly grow out of control. Texas A&M Forest Service had warned of a wildfire outbreak this week because of the forecast.
There were no reports of injuries.
A nursing home in Rising Star was evacuated and residents were taken to a community center, Eastland County Today reported.
The National Weather Service in Forth Worth warned Friday that much of western and central Texas faces an elevated fire risk due to gusty winds and drought conditions. The weather service urged residents to check for local burn bans and use caution with anything that could start a grass fire.
“We had a fairly dry summer last year and that continued into the fall and winter,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Madison Gordon. With winter passing, “we now have a lot of fuel available in fields.”
A Baptist church in downtown Ranger, Texas, about 85 miles (137 kilometres) west of Fort Worth, was destroyed Thursday when flames engulfed the 103-year-old building. The police department and other historic buildings were also burned, Dallas TV station WFAA reported.
Roy Rodgers, a deacon at Second Baptist Church, said the third floor and roof collapsed and the rest of the building had extensive smoke and water damage. Rodgers said the church plans to hold its next Sunday service in a parking lot across txjmtzywhe street, where the congregation will decide what to do.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Rodgers, a church member since 1969. “A lot of people are taking it pretty hard because a lot of people have ties to the church.”
The fire, which was fueled by high winds, may have started from a barbecue pit, Ranger Fire Department Chief Darrell Fox said.
“We had everything ready throughout the county,” Fox said. “But when we have the winds like there was … and the humidity down to nothing, this is what you’re going to get.”
The fires caused hazy conditions hundreds of miles away, with the Houston Fire Department and the city’s Office of Emergency Management on Friday morning sending out automated phone messages alerting area residents to smoke and ash.
RELATED IMAGESview larger image
A family walks through smoke down the Arnold Blvd. frontage road after evacuating the Continental Villa mobile home park in Abilene, Texas Thursday March 17, 2022. (Ronald W. Erdrich/The Abilene Reporter-News via AP)
