-
A panel of Texas lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday about the investigation into what caused the largest wildfire in Texas history, which burned more than one million acres of the panhandle in late February and early March.
-
No state agency is taking responsibility for making sure the privately built lines that power many oil and gas sites are safe. Such lines have been blamed for sparking two recent Panhandle fires.
-
The Smokehouse Creek fire began on Feb. 26 due to a downed electricity pole. The blaze consumed over a million acres, making it the largest wildfire in Texas history. On Thursday, a representative from Xcel Energy's Southwestern Public Service Company testified before a Texas House committee charged with investigating the Panhandle wildfires.
-
This year, wildfires have already burned thousands of acres in the Great Plains. Dry conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures have optimal settings for wildfires, and some experts say they are seeing more intense fires.
-
After more than a week of destruction, including thousands of dead livestock and hundreds of lost structures, firefighters now have two of the largest Texas Panhandle wildfires more under control.
-
The Smokehouse Creek Fire has burned over 1 million acres and is 44% contained.
-
Firefighting crews continue to battle the Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County. The wildfire has affected more than so far, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
-
A changing climate looks poised to increase wildfire conditions significantly. That would compound other growing risks, such as the aggressive spread of eastern red cedars.
-
Wildfires have become more common in Great Plains states. City outskirts and rural areas where cedars spread aggressively face some of the highest risks.
-
As wildfires burn in eastern Canada, smoke and pollutants drift over the heavily impacted Northeast and into the Midwest. Poor air quality levels in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, may be hurting people with more sensitive breathing conditions.