Texas battles second-biggest wildfire in US history

BBC News:

A rapidly spreading Texas wildfire has killed one person, forced residents to evacuate, cut off power to homes and businesses, and briefly paused operations at a nuclear facility.

It has burned 1.1 million acres north of the city of Amarillo – making it the second-largest fire in US history.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties.

Dry grass, high temperatures and strong winds have fuelled the blaze, which remains 3% contained.

In Hutchinson County, one of the hardest-hit areas, public engagement coordinator Deidra Thomas told CNN one person had died in the blazes. The woman was identified by her family as 83-year-old Joyce Blankenship – a former substitute teacher.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire, as it has been named, has already razed 1.1 million acres – larger than the state of Rhode Island.

The West Odessa Fire Department said on Facebook that it “is now both the largest and most destructive fire in Texas History”, surpassing the East Amarillo Complex fire, which burned over 900,000 acres in 2006.

The department also said it is now the second largest wildfire in US history.

There are five active wildfires in the state, according to the forest service, each burning tens of thousands acres, melting light posts and reducing buildings to a charred skeleton.

The Texas A&M Forest Service said that the winds had diminished slightly, helping to moderate the fire’s spread.

Rain and cooler temperatures were expected in the state’s northern panhandle on Thursday, which may aid efforts to extinguish the blaze.