US firefighters face difficult weather conditions as they battle largest wildfire in Texas history
- The blaze, that began on Monday, has killed at least two people, left a charred landscape and dead cattle and destroyed up to 500 structures, including homes
- The fire, which has merged with another and crossed into Oklahoma, has burned more than 4,400 square kilometres and was 15 per cent contained on Friday
Firefighters battling the largest wildfire in Texas history face increasingly difficult weather conditions on Saturday.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire that began on Monday has killed at least two people, left a charred landscape of scorched prairie and dead cattle and destroyed as many as 500 structures, including burned-out homes, in the Texas Panhandle.
The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a red flag warning for the entire Panhandle from late Saturday morning until midnight on Sunday after rain and snow on Thursday allowed firefighters to contain a portion of the fire.
“A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures will create favourable weather for rapid fire growth and spread,” according to the weather service’s forecast.
“Critical fire weather conditions are expected to return … as winds out of the southwest gust to 40 to 45mph and humidity drops below 10 per cent,” the forecast said, with a high temperature of 75 degrees F (24 degrees C).
The fire, which has merged with another fire and crossed the state line into western Oklahoma, has burned more than 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 square miles) and was 15 per cent contained, the Texas A&M Forest Service said on Friday.
