Winds fan fires in Texas, Oklahoma

KENNEDALE, Texas – Fires fueled by dry brush and driven by gusty wind raced across parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Tuesday, killing at least one person, damaging scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of a small town.

In Cross Plains, a town of about 1,000 people 150 miles southwest of Dallas, at least 25 homes and a church were burned and residents evacuated.

“All day today there was so much smoke it was like nighttime,” rancher Dean Dillard said.

Gov. Rick Perry deployed state firefighters and issued a disaster declaration after at least 73 fires were reported burning in the northern and central parts of the state.

“It’s like trying to stop a 30-mph car coming down the street,” said Texas Deputy Fire Marshal Keith Ebel. “The wind is the worst enemy right now.”

Drought and windy conditions help set the stage for the wildfires, which authorities believe were mainly set by people ignoring fire bans and burning trash, shooting fireworks or tossing cigarettes on the crunchy, brown grass.

In Cooke County, near the Texas-Oklahoma border, an elderly woman was killed, said Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Traci Weaver.

In Oklahoma, the biggest fire burned at least 400 acres in a rural area near the town of Mustang, southwest of Oklahoma City.

After the flames passed, residents emerged and were “watering their yards and standing in their yards,” said Harold Percival, who lives about a mile from the Mustang fire.

At least two Oklahoma firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation or heat exhaustion. In Texas, at least three firefighters were hospitalized with smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion.