The Smokehouse Creek fire merged with another fire Thursday but growth stalled overnight due to precipitation, wildfire is 5% contained FridayThe Smokehouse Creek fire ignited in the Panhandle on Monday in rough terrain and unfavorable weather conditions and spread with alarming speed.Two deaths have been reported; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration on Tuesday. Abbott will speak at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Dylan Phillips, 24, said he hardly recognized his Stinnett neighborhood, which was littered with melted street signs and the charred frames of cars and trucks. His family's home survived, but at least half a dozen others were smoking rubble.The Smokehouse Creek fire's explosive growth slowed Thursday as snow fell and winds and temperatures dipped, but it was still untamed and threatening. It is the largest of several major fires burning in the rural Panhandle section of the state.
“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. “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.” “I don’t want the community there to feel a false sense of security that all these fires will not grow anymore,” Kidd said. “This is still a very dynamic situation.”
Hemphill County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Kendall said about 40 homes were burned near the town of Canadian, and described the charred terrain as being “like a moonscape. … It's just all gone.”Homes destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek Fire are seen Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Canadian, Texas.