Texas Firefighters Face ‘Another Tricky Day’ Battling Blazes

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Texas firefighters are facing “another tricky day” battling flames fanned by dry winds across the Great Plains, although threats to towns and ranches may ease overnight amid forecasts for rain and snow.

Shifting winds may push the flames in new directions later Wednesday and humidity will stay low enough so they can continue to spread, said David Roth, a senior branch forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center. The fires have engulfed an area of the Texas Panhandle almost twice the size of New York City.

Precipitation overnight may provide temporary relief to fire crews that have been fighting the blazes for more than 36 hours. However, hot, windy conditions conducive to wildfires are expected to return later in the week.

“It is going to be another tricky day,” Roth said. “With these kinds of winds, it could spread.”

The Phillips 66’s oil refinery in the town of Borger has thus far been spared and continues to operate, according to a source familiar with operations who asked not to identified discussing non-public information. Mandatory evacuation orders and highway closures are widespread across several counties in the area.

The main US nuclear weapons assembly plant northeast of Amarillo temporarily paused operations late Tuesday and has since resumed its normal schedule.

The largest of the conflagrations, known as the Smokehouse Creek Fire, was burning out of control across half a million acres (780 square miles) as of Wednesday morning, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Although wildfires are not uncommon at this time of year in Texas, the state has experienced a series of disruptive seasons that have caused widespread damage in the Panhandle, a key ranching and meatpacking region. The US cattle herd is already at its lowest in decades and further losses could result in higher beef prices.