- Title: Locals take shelter in Texas church after ravaging wildfires
- Date: 29th February 2024
- Summary: FRITCH, TEXAS, UNITED STATES ( FEBRUARY 28, 2024) (REUTERS) SMOKE BILLOWING OVER FIELDS AFFECTED BY WILDFIRE VARIOUS CHARRED VEHICLE AND DESTROYED BUILDINGS SMOKE ALONG ROAD CHARRED BUILDING UPROOTED TREES AND BRANCHES ALONG ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL WHO HAD TO FLEE WILDFIRE, JERRY HARRAH, SAYING: "I figured the way, where they fire was, I figured out it was alright
- Embargoed: 14th March 2024 03:36
- Keywords: Amarillo Canadian Greg Abbott Texas disaster declaration emergency shelter
- Location: FRITCH, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- City: FRITCH, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,North America,Wildfires/Forest Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001424929022024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: QUALITY AS INCOMING
Wildfires in the Texas panhandle forced residents to flee their homes and see shelter. Though not only people but also some of their animals took shelter in a church after the second largest wildfire in Texas history rages across the Panhandle on Wednesday (February 28).
The Celebration Family in the small town Fritch, Texas offered people a place to spend the night and stay as the blaze forced them to leave their homes.
The uncontained wildfire northeast of Amarillo has scorched 500,000 acres since Monday, (February 26) the Texas A&M Forest Service said, pushing eastward across the border of Oklahoma.
Several smaller wildfires at various stages of containment are burning other parts of the state's northern Panhandle, whipped up by fierce winds and hot, dry temperatures.
The area scorched by the main blaze, dubbed the Smokehouse Creek Fire, is about the size of New York City plus its sprawling suburb of Westchester County.
The Forest Service said there were no reported injuries or deaths but an unspecified number of structures were damaged and destroyed.
(Production: Andrea Rodriguez, Eva Weininger) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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