Texas wildfires scorched 3 million acres this year so far

amarillo.com...

Wildfires have burned more than 3 million acres in Texas since the fire season started - more than in any other year since the state Forest Service began keeping records a quarter-century ago.

The scorched earth covers more than twice the total land acreage in Delaware, or almost 2 percent of the land in the Lone Star State's famously wide-open spaces. The total is 50 percent higher than the 1.98 million acres burned in the deadly fire season of 2006.

And heres what some of the finanical costs of the fires this year have been.

And that's not all: Officials have reported 12,362 fires to the Forest Service this season, which officially began Nov. 15, said agency spokeswoman April Saginor. Texas' annual budget for fighting wildfires is $15.5 million. As of Sunday, the state had spent $126.7 million, Saginor said.

$15.5 million turned into $126.7 million!

Saginor said the Forest Service will remain stationed around the state to respond to fires quickly until vegetation and the ground gather enough moisture to slow wildfires.

That appears unlikely to happen soon, said Krissy Scotten, a weather service meteorologist.

"For the next two weeks it doesn't look promising for any rain at all," Scotten said. "If we don't get anything now and we go into September with less than 2 inches, it's going to be bad."

I never knew this season was this bad. Plus, there dosent seem to be getting any better anytime soon. I wonder how much these fires now and the possible ones in the future will cost?

I was visiting family down there around the Ft. Worth area this last April 14th-June13th. When we got down there (we drove from Colorado), you could see the smoke as it was kinda near where we were staying. I've heard reports from various family members that they had heard something about an arsonist in the area. The haze got so bad that one night when the moon was rising, it was blood red.
I hope they get these fires under control soon.

I drove from Seagraves to Whitherall (a mere 90 miles), all I saw was empty farmland, and scorched earth. What the fires haven't destroyed, the drought will. It's not looking good for Texas. My job depends on peanuts being planted... If cotton can't survive, peanuts don't have a chance. I don't kid myself about the hardships of the coming year. It is bad. Sad part is that it is too late for the rains to save the day as far as farming. I still wish they would come just to stem the fires. I awake in a haze every morning, and go to bed in a haze every night. I try to find justification for this rash of dumb luck, but to no avail.

Just a shout to my fellow Texans, Arizonans, New Mexicans, and even Oklahomans, take care. Prepare. The corporate world has no sympathy for natural (a subjective term on ATS) disaster. They will hang all of us out to dry in the harsh West Texas wind to protect profit margins.

reply to post by Bobaganoosh

What the fires haven't destroyed, the drought will

The drought is already taking a toll on some of our lakes and rivers.

www.kvue.com...

Water levels are dropping rapidly in the Highland Lakes. The Llano and Perdenales rivers have essentially dried up. That means hardly any water is going into the Highland Lakes right now. A severe lack of rain and blistering heat has Lake Travis slowly evaporating away.

Video taken by the LCRA shows the Sometimes Islands are clearly visible as the lake continues to go down. Monday it was at 647.4 feet, just 55 percent full. Lake Buchanan is 64 percent full.

There are only two public boat ramps still open, and Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) officials are not sure how long that will last during our projected long hot summer.

Not looking good, especially is this summer is quite the scorcher and we dont get the rain we need. On the bright side, we now can see some structures build in the 30's!

Video from the LCRA shows structures and pilings from construction in the 1930s clearly visible just underneath the water's surface. Large rocks are also peeking through the now more shallow water.

reply to post by buni11687


man am from the uk and i am glad we dont have things like this on this scale.

I'll be driving as far south as I can go in Texas here pretty soon. I'll see all of it. Lake Buchanan might let the old town of Blufton come back to the surface. My brother saw the San Saba and Llano rivers in person last weekend, he said it was a pitiful sight.

We are in north central Texas and just yesterday, we were under warning because a huge fire was about 60 miles from base. Later that night, they had said a storm had just passed us and was going to Dallas.

Lo and behold, we wake up at 12am and it is thundering/lightening/hailing/raining, and all with winds of 69mph. At a point, the winds went up to 76 mph.

A piece of our roof under the porch fell off. Base housing is in for it today because there are so many damages.


For the past 3 weeks we have been at 106 degrees...even up to 110! Sheesh!!

and just think. gov. perry and the legislature are cutting fire fighting services even more in the current budget.

reply to post by Pinkgomo653


It has been a brutal summer here Pink. I don't remember the heat index being as high as it has been in a long long time. The heat index was 110 the other day, with only 24% humidity For Central Texas, that is bone dry. Felt like I was back in Arizona. Hopefully we will get some rain, and hopefully it is more than the amount to make dust art on the cars. We also have started watering our house foundation, to hopefully keep foundation problems at bay.

If you drive around, you can see the crops are in sad shape, and ranchers are already starting to sell of cattle. It is getting kinda scary.

My lawns are parched and half dead, and it is just going to get worse. And in some areas they have started limiting watering your yards and gardens. And they are already starting up with the firework bans.

It is going to get a whole lot more interesting before it gets better.

reply to post by Justaposter


Definitely. That is all they talk about in the news with farmers/ranchers selling off their cattle because
they don't have grass to feed them. It's really sad.