FRITCH, Texas – As firefighters work on their fifth straight day of trying to put out wildfires burning in the Texas Panhandle, the race is on to beat a weather forecast that favors wildfires burning uncontrollably.
Even though snow and frigid temperatures on Thursday helped keep the four wildfires burning in the Panhandle, including the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest ever in state history, weather forecasts are predicting warmer temperatures combined with high winds and low humidity - a perfect concoction for wildfires.
“In my opinion, we’re going to see some action tomorrow. I bet my paycheck on it,” said Houston Fire Department Captain Beau Moreno. “And nobody wants that. That’s why we’re here again. We have the biggest resource request since 2011.”
Their job on Friday was to put out hot spots, which are places where past fires are still warm and smoldering. Those ashes can spark the fire to come back to life when conditions are right.
“We’ve got to get these hotspots out. We’ve got to get find them all,” Moreno said.
That includes in homes that burnt down. The Johnson family in Fritch is sifting through what remains at their house after the Windy Deuce Fire claimed their home along with dozens more in the community.
“You know, you’ve been here all these years and you’ve seen some of the fires before, and they got close, but it’s gone now,” said Ronald Johnson.
Meanwhile, down the street at Cindy Joslyn’s home, she could only find what was left in her fireproof safe. Her home was destroyed too.
“It wasn’t much of a trailer to begin with, but it was home to me,” said Joslyn. “It was like a tornado. It started because all of a sudden the wind I mean picked up really big, you know, and it was like it was swirling in a way.”
The Smokehouse Fire, which has consumed more than 1.07 million acres of land so far, burned down the home of Stinnett Volunteer Firefighter Charles Clark.
He came home from work after hearing the fire was nearby, but it was too late. Instead of trying to save his home, he turned his attention to his neighbor’s.
“It’s just been kind of a surreal experience,” Clark said. “It was extremely difficult to walk away from my house, but also knew that if we tried to do something to save my house, that my neighbor’s house might burn.”
All eyes are on the weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday, which call for a very high fire danger as the humidity drops and the winds pick up.