quote:

State of disaster declared in Amarillo and 2 counties as fire advances

A local state of disaster has been declared for the Texas Panhandle city of Amarillo, Texas, and Potter and Randall counties as a raging wildfire advances toward the area, according to the Amarillo Area Office of Emergency Management. Amarillo is in Potter County, and Randall County is adjacent, to the south.

A mandatory evacuation order was issued for the Mesilla Park subdivision north of Amarillo on Tuesday night. "Other areas are not currently being impacted," the emergency management office said in a Facebook post.

Smoke from the sprawling fires is streaming southward into the Amarillo area, making air quality poor, the National Weather Service office in Amarillo said.

The disaster declaration notifies state officials that the region needs emergency assistance and additional resources to respond to the fires.

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t least 5 active wildfires are burning in the Texas Panhandle -- scorching more than 370,000 acres
From CNN's Joe Sutton and Jason Hanna

At least five growing wildfires were threatening communities in the Texas Panhandle as of early Wednesday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service Incident Viewer.

So far, more than 370,000 acres have been burned by the fires, according to the forest service.

The threat has sparked evacuation orders and shelter-in-place advisories for several communities in the region.

Here are the current wildfire statuses:

Smokehouse Creek Fire

Hutchinson County
300,000 acres
0% contained
Windy Deuce Fire

Moore County
40,000 acres
20% contained
Grape Vine Creek Fire

Gray County
30,000 acres
60% contained
687 Reamer Fire

Hutchinson County
2,000 acres
0% contained
Magenta Fire

Oldham County
2,000 acres
10% contained

quote:

Texas: Disaster declaration issued and nuclear weapons plant shut down as wildfires spread
Unseasonable hot and dry conditions, along with strong winds, have caused the fires to ignite and spread across the state's grassy plains at an alarming pace - but authorities have not yet pinpointed the source of the blaze.

A disaster declaration has been issued for dozens of counties in northern Texas as raging wildfires forced evacuations in several towns and a nuclear weapons plant to shut down.

Republican governor Greg Abbott proclaimed 60 counties were in a state of disaster and called for extra emergency services to support local firefighters in tackling the blazes.

The unbridled Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest of all the blazes, burned nearly 400 square miles - more than twice its size since it sparked on Monday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. It also forced major roads to close.

Unseasonable hot and dry conditions, along with strong winds, have caused the fires to ignite and spread across the state's grassy plains at an alarming pace - but authorities have not yet pinpointed the source of the blaze.

Pantex nuclear facility paused operations until further notice due to an out-of-control fire approaching its Panhandle site near Amarillo.

Its 16,000-acre site is home to the plant that builds and disassembles America's nuclear weapons.

"The fire near Pantex is not contained," the company said. "Response efforts have shifted to evacuations."

Pantex confirmed there was no fire on the site as emergency services continued to monitor the situation.

It added "all employees" had been accounted for and "non-essential personnel" were no longer on site.

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Natuurbrand in Texas zo groot dat hij vanuit de ruimte te zien is

Een enorme natuurbrand heeft deze week al 1,1 miljoen hectare aan boerengrond en grasland verwoest in de Amerikaanse staten Texas en Oklahoma. Het is de grootste brand ooit in Texas en een van de meest verwoestende ooit in de VS.
Minstens één persoon en tienduizenden stuks vee zijn omgekomen. Het gebied in Texas waar de brand woedt, herbergt ongeveer 85 procent van al het vee in deze Amerikaanse staat.

In zestig zogenoemde county's is door gouverneur Greg Abbott de noodtoestand uitgeroepen. Ook heeft hij extra brandweerwagens naar de getroffen gebieden gestuurd.

Dat de brand zo snel zo groot kon worden, is te wijten aan de relatief lage luchtvochtigheid, droogte en harde wind, zegt een woordvoerder van de Texaanse natuurrampendienst. De oorzaak van de brand - de Smokehouse Creek-brand genoemd - wordt nog onderzocht.

Lokale autoriteiten en milieuorganisaties omschrijven de Smokehouse Creek-brand als de grootste in Texas ooit en de op een na meest verwoestende in de hele Verenigde Staten. Dat laatste lijkt niet te kloppen, maar de natuurbrand komt wel in de top tien van de grootste natuurbranden ooit.

De brand is zo omvangrijk dat deze vanuit de ruimte zichtbaar is. De natuurbrand werd waargenomen door een satelliet die op een afstand van ruim 36.000 kilometer om de aarde cirkelt.

Een gebied van 1,1 miljoen hectare komt overeen met twee keer de oppervlakte van de provincie Gelderland.