One of the driest spells in Texas history has left most of the state in extreme drought, and wildfires in various parts of the state have burned more than 1,000 square miles of land in the past week.
A hilltop is a blaze in Palo Pinto County near Strawn, Texas on Monday, April 18, 2011. One of the driest spells in Texas history has left most of the state in extreme drought, and wildfires in various parts of the state have burned more than 1,000 square miles of land in the past week. Gov. Rick Perry asked President Barack Obama on Sunday for federal disaster funding, and forestry officials said Monday that the threat of new wildfires remained extremely high in the western part of the state.
In an April 18, 2011 photo, Ernest and Rita Nieswiadomy of Possum Kingdom Lake, who evacuated from their home, are staying at a Red Cross Shelter at the Graford Elementary School in Graford, Texas. The Possum Kingdom fire would be the fifth of at least 100,000 acres around Texas.
In an April 18, 2011 photo, Texas State Trooper Corey Brasher gives directions to a motorist at a roadblock at Texas state highway 337 and Texas state highway 254 in Graford, Texas, while a plume of smoke from the west covers the sky. Motorists were prohibited from heading west from Graford to Possum Kingdom Lake due to the wildfires.
Texas could be fighting fires for as long as two months because of drought conditions around the state, said Steve Deffibaugh, a Texas Forest Service spokesman. A sense of urgency will remain “until we get a significant amount of rain,” he added.
Firefighters look on as an air tanker makes a pass over a wildfire near Possum Kingdom, Texas, Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
A wildfire threatens a house near Possum Kingdom, Texas, Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
An air tanker makes a drop on a wildfire near Possum Kingdom, Texas, Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
Texas Forest Service spokesman Marq Webb says the fire burning Tuesday near Possum Kingdom Lake may have grown to about 120,000 acres. It was previously estimated at 63,000 acres.
Firefighter Craig Howard yells to another fire crew as they take up positions to save a house from a wildfire near Possum Kingdom, Texas, Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
Firefighter Jason Lambirth, of San Diego, surveys a wildfire near Possum Kingdom, Texas, Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
Smoke rises from an uncontrolled wildfire burning near Possum Kingdom, Texas, Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
New wildfires keep starting up near Possum Kingdom Lake where homes have been destroyed in the recreational area about 70 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas on April 19, 2011.
