A series of wildfires raged across the Texas Panhandle early Wednesday, forcing evacuations, cutting off power to thousands, and calling for a brief shutdown of a nuclear weapons facility. Unseasonably warm temperatures, high winds, and dry grass fueled the quick spread of the blaze.
As reported by The Associated Press, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties as the main blaze, the Smokehouse Creek fire, expanded into the second-largest wildfire in the state's history.
The cause of the blaze remains unclear, but it tore through sparsely populated countries set amid vast, high plains punctuated by cattle ranches and oil rigs.
Adrianna Hill from Borger, a community of roughly 13,000 in Hutchinson County, said she and her family were terrified as fire encircled the entire town until the winds shifted.
"It was like a ring of fire around Borger, there was no way out ... all four main roads were closed," Hill, 28, said. The flames came within about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of the home she shares with her husband and 20-month-old son.
"What saved our butts was that northern wind ... it blew in the opposite direction," Hill said. "We were scared, but every night I pray ... and that's all I can do."
According to The Independent, fires have reached 580,000 acres of land so far, and the northernmost Smokehouse Creek fire is 0 percent contained as of Wednesday morning, estimated to have reached 500,000 acres.
The Grape Vine Creek fire is 60 percent contained, while the Magenta fire is 40 percent contained.
Meanwhile, 687 Reamer and Windy Deuce remain at 10 percent and 20 percent containment, reported Independent.
The Pantex Plant, America's main facility for nuclear weapons, shut down its operations on Tuesday night as homes in Hutchinson County were damaged or destroyed.
"We have evacuated our personnel, non-essential personnel from the site, just in an abundance of caution," Laef Pendergraft, a spokesperson for National Nuclear Security Administration's Production Office at Pantex, said during a news conference.
