Wildfires Prompt Evacuations in Texas and Oklahoma

Wildfires were spreading rapidly in Texas and Oklahoma early Wednesday, prompting evacuations and the closure of a plant that disassembles nuclear weapons.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration on Tuesday for 60 counties, activating state resources to help local firefighters and urged residents to limit activities that could create sparks.

The largest current blaze in the Texas Panhandle, the Smokehouse Creek fire, has burned at least 300,000 acres since igniting on Monday, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The fire remained uncontrolled early Wednesday.

“Hot and dry conditions caused by high temperatures and windy conditions are expected to continue in the region in the coming days,” Governor Abbott said in a statement. “These conditions could increase the potential for these wildfires to grow larger and more dangerous.”

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for several towns in Texas, the Forest Service said. The National Weather Service office in Amarillo, Texas, said that a neighborhood in that city had also been ordered to evacuate.

A hospital system in Canadian, Texas, evacuated all of its patients and staff Tuesday afternoon, according to the Hemphill County Hospital District. In Fritch, Texas, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office told residents of several neighborhoods to evacuate.

Meteorologists in Amarillo advised people to stay home and keep their pets indoors because of the poor air quality.

In Oklahoma, local officials told some residents of Ellis and Roger Mills counties, near the state’s western border with Texas, to leave.

Near Amarillo, a wildfire was burning north of Pantex, a plant that disassembles nuclear weapons, officials said. The plant paused operations and ordered nonessential personnel to evacuate.

There was no fire on the plant’s site or near its boundaries, but nuclear safety officials were responding, said Laef Pendergraft, a nuclear safety engineer for the National Nuclear Security Administration production office at Pantex. The plant has an on-site fire department, he said, speaking at a news conference.

Unseasonably high temperatures and high winds were also spurring wildfires elsewhere in the Great Plains, including in Nebraska and Kansas.