Update on Texas Fires

The grass fires in Texas continue to be a problem.

In Texas, fires have consumed about 3.7 million acres and nearly 400 homes since late December.

I know that that's nothing compared to the effects of the great Tsunami of 2004, but it's definitely having an effect on Texas, and could very well economically impact the entire US, as reported in my earlier post.

In my earlier Update on Texas Fires, we were just beginning to see the large scale fires that have plagued West Texas for four months now. In that one I quoted:

Since December, grass fires in the state have killed three people, burned
more than 200,000 acres and destroyed at least 250 homes, according to the Texas
Forest Service.

So, 200,000 in January, 3.7 million acres today. Do you know how big that is? It's 5781.25 sq. miles, which is about the size of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. And these conditions are not expected to abate.

The Texas and Oklahoma wildfires are just the beginning of what meteorologists predict will be a spring with an unusually high number of wildfires.

I don't have the link on hand, but I was reading another news article that Texas expects wildfires from Dallas west to the Big Bend and up the Panhandle. It's a very common sight to see grass fires here in the summer. They're usually no big deal because they usually happen in controlled circumstances, like on right-of-ways and medians. But if grass fires were to get out of hand in the countryside and sweep into the 'burbs, it could get bad.

It's already been bad for ranchers, though.

[...]animal health officials have estimated the number of dead horses and cattle at 10,000.

That figure only stands to rise as the fires grow larger and more widespread. Let's not forget that 11 people have died as well, so this is not something to take lightly. Don't worry though, TWM are pretty much safe in and around the Big D, so you'll get to keep reading our posts through it all.