The second-largest wildfire on record in Texas raged across more than half a million acres on Wednesday, as firefighters from around the state tried to contain it. The blaze has consumed houses, burned vast ranch lands and forced evacuations across the sparsely populated Texas Panhandle.
Known as the Smokehouse Creek fire, the blaze was ignited on Monday and by Wednesday had spread to at least 500,000 acres, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions, and was uncontrolled, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
The fire spread around the town of Canadian, a cattle-country community of around 2,200 people northeast of Amarillo near the Oklahoma state line. Residents who had not already evacuated were forced to shelter in place overnight. The county sheriff warned on Tuesday that there were no open routes out of the town.
Dozens of people took shelter inside a church, according to a local news outlet, The Canadian Record. Others were offered the use of the local high school gym. Some residents simply stayed at home and hoped for the best.
“There is a lot of stuff that’s just gone,” said Cody Cameron, 56, who said he and his wife had been at home trying to gather up their three cats when the roads into and out of Canadian were closed on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the roads had reopened, and the ground was blackened on both sides of Highway 60 for about 10 miles approaching Canadian.
