Fires Rage Across Texas Panhandle
The largest wildfire in Texas’s state history broke out on Feb. 26, 2024 and quickly spread within days, fueled by dry, windy conditions. By Monday, March 4, the blaze, known as the Smokehouse Creek fire, had become one of the largest fires in U.S. history, though the initial cause is still unclear.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire is one of five fires that ignited in the Panhandle last week, and as of March 7, has burned more than 1,058,000 acres (roughly 1,655 square miles)—an area larger than the state of Rhode Island—and has spread into Oklahoma. In addition to this fire, three others are continuing to burn in Texas this week: the Magenta Fire, the Windy Deuce fire, and the Grape Vine Creek fire.
Credits:
NOAA
NASA
CIRA
“Wildfires” by Magnum Opus [ASCAP]; Volta Music; Universal Production Music