World News | Firefighters Hope to Gain Ground on Texas Wildfires
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Fire crews in Texas on Saturday hope to make progress against a massive complex of wildfires that have killed one person and burned at least 50 homes, officials said.
Texas, Mar 19 (AP) Fire crews in Texas on Saturday hope to make progress against a massive complex of wildfires that have killed one person and burned at least 50 homes, officials said.
Winds were expected to diminish on Saturday, raising hopes for the attack on the flames, said Angel Lopez, a spokesman for the task force attacking the wildfire complex near Eastland, about 120 miles west of Dallas.
However, gusty winds were expected to return on Sunday, again raising the wildfire threat to critical levels in western and central Texas, he added.
Governor Greg Abbott at a news conference in Eastland late Friday said at least 50 homes had been destroyed by flames with more possibly to be found.
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He declared a disaster in 11 counties hardest hit by the wildfires.
Texas Forest Services warned that fires could also affect parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. Nebraska was warned of an extreme fire risk.
The Eastland County Sheriff's Office, releasing more details on the death of Deputy Sgt. Barbara Fenley, stated that she died when going door to door, getting residents to evacuate their homes on Thursday.
It was “last heard that she was going to check on an elderly individual”, the statement said, adding that Fenley was engulfed in the fire while running off the roadway as their was "extreme deteriorating conditions and low visibility from smoke".
As of Friday afternoon, the fires had burned about 330 square kilometers, about 185 square kilometers in the Eastland Complex alone, according to Texas Forest Service.
The fires in that complex were only four per cent contained late Friday, with fires burning in thick brush and grass fields.
About 18,000 people live in Eastland County. About 475 homes were evacuated in the town of Gorman, said Matthew Ford, spokesman for Texas Forest Service.
Several months of dry, windy weather have fuelled deadly wildfires in Kansas and Oklahoma, including one a few weeks ago.
Meteorologists said they were hopeful that rain showers expected early next week across the plains would reduce the risk.
“We've been so dry that even an inch of rain would make a difference,” said Robb Lawson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Wichita, Kansas.
Smaller fires were burning in other parts of Texas, and Thursday's low humidity and high winds created an ideal scenario for the blazes to quickly grow out of control.
Texas Forest Service had warned of a wildfire outbreak this week because of the forecast.
The fires caused hazy conditions hundreds of miles away, with the Houston Fire Department and the city's Office of Emergency Management on Friday morning sending out automated phone messages alerting area residents to smoke and ash. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)