Texas Wildfires Engulf 1M Acres

Facts

• The Smokehouse Creed Fire in Texas has now engulfed over 1M acres, making it the largest wildfire in the state's history. Satellite images have shown it now spreading into Oklahoma.¹
• Smokehouse Creek, which has burned over 400K acres in just Hemphill County and reportedly destroyed 115 miles (185 km) of powerlines, is the largest of three fires currently burning in the Texas panhandle.²
• The Windy Deuce Fire has simultaneously burned 142K acres and is 40% contained, and the Grape Vine Creek Fire has burned 30K acres with 60% of flames contained.²
• Smokehouse Creek coincided with 100°F (37°C) temperatures in Killeen, 93°F (33°C) in Dallas, and 82°F (27°C) in Amarillo, which is about a 20°F temperature anomaly than the typical February temperature. One death has been reported due to the blaze — an 83-year-old woman³
• Smokecreek grew from 300K acres to 850K on Wednesday before topping 1M by Thursday. After a cold spell hit the state, a reported 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) of snow fell Thursday morning, though its only benefit is believed to be keeping humidity elevated for a day.⁴
• High temperatures are expected to hit again by Saturday, alongside winds up to 45 mph (72 km/hr).³

Sources: ¹CBS, ²CNN, ³Al Jazeera and ⁴FOX Weather.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The New York Times. As climate change heats up the atmosphere, Texas has endured hotter and dryer summer and spring seasons, resulting in the wildfire season starting earlier and ending later. This has also caused a disproportionate amount of burned acreage in the Panhandle. This not only affects the environment we live in but has also raised Texans' homeowner's insurance by over 50%. The physical and economic damage from climate change cannot be overstated.
• Narrative B, as provided by Reason. While wildfires have certainly gotten worse in recent years, part of the problem has been the government's decades-long policy of immediately extinguishing every fire everywhere. This practice is ill-advised because brush burning is often a natural way to rejuvenate grass and soil. Another reason fires have gained so much attention recently is that never before has America seen so many homes being built on the edges of forests. The government needs to take a step back and find new preventative solutions before more lives are lost.

Predictions