Texas requires utilities to plan for emergencies. That didn’t stop the Panhandle fires.
Experts say utilities need to be ready for extreme weather, which could be a challenge in a state where discussing climate change is often taboo. Full Story
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![Brooke McQuiddy looks through some of her mother, Melanie McQuiddy’s possessions recovered from the property. Melanie McQuiddy’s mobile home was on the lot in the background when the fire swept through. Canadian, Tx. residents were cleaning up and recovering from the massive wild fires that burned much of the northern Texas panhandle.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
New reservoir will fuel petrochemical expansion on Texas coast
Blocked in Louisiana, Formosa Plastics looks to grow around Lavaca Bay instead. But it and other interested industrial plants are waiting for more water. Full Story
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![Formosa Plastic Corp's Lavaca Bay plant in Point Comfort, Texas, pictured on June 7, 2023.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
As their neighbors fled, these Texas volunteer firefighters raced toward the flames
The wildfires offers a reminder that most of rural Texas is protected by volunteers. And there aren’t many of them. Full Story
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![Local firefighters work to contain a wildfire after it was whipped up by high winds in Pampa on March 2, 2024.]()
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Xcel Energy acknowledges role in Texas’ Smokehouse Creek wildfire
The Smokehouse Creek Fire has grown to be the largest in state history. Full Story
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![A drone view shows firefighters spraying trees with water after the Smokehouse Creek fire burned through the area in Roberts County, on Feb. 28, 2024.]()
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Facing staggering losses from wildfires, Panhandle ranchers and farmers seek aid to rebuild
Ranchers have likely lost thousands of cattle in the wildfires, according to some preliminary estimates. Full Story
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![Christy Oats, left, talks to the farmers and ranchers attending a USDA informational meeting at the Hemphill County Exhibition center in Canadian on March 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Many homes burned in the Texas wildfires weren’t insured, creating a steep path to recovery
Rural Texans are more than twice as likely to go without homeowners insurance than their urban peers. Full Story
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![A burned truck sits on lot in Fritch where the fire went through while areas behind appear to be untouched Friday, March. 1, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texas greenlights negotiations with SpaceX for Boca Chica State Park land exchange
Monday’s vote lets Texas Parks and Wildlife staff begin negotiations to swap 43 acres in the park for 477 acres next to a federal wildlife refuge. Full Story
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![The SpaceX South Texas launch site in Boca Chica on Nov. 29, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Panhandle wildfires: What you need to know about the blazes, damage and recovery
The full scope of damage still isn’t known, but some Panhandle residents have returned home. Firefighters continue battling the infernos. Full Story
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![Trees stand burned from the Smokehouse Creek fire on Sunday, March. 3, 2024, in Hemphill Co.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Panhandle residents begin rebuilding, even as fight to contain fires continues
The fire that engulfed their town was only 15% contained over the weekend, but Canadian residents were back to selling flowers and preparing for an election. Full Story
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![Martin Ocasio loads pallets of cattle cubes onto a trailer to be delivered to a rancher, in the Hemphill County Extension building in Canadian on Sunday, March. 3, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
As wildfires rage through Panhandle, Fritch residents seek respite at church
Shaken by the devastation, families find comfort in each other as they pick through the rubble and commune at a church in nearby Borger. Full Story
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![Scott McBroom looks at the rubble of his burned house Friday, March. 1, 2024, in Fritch, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Wildfires ravage cattle country, threatening Texas’ agriculture economy
Texas wildfires have consumed acres of agricultural land, killing thousands of livestock, destroying crops and exacerbating challenges lingering from last year’s drought. Full Story
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![Don Gourd watches hay be loaded onto his trailer to take to neighbors affected by the Smokehouse Fire Friday, March. 1, 2024, in Borger, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
New Panhandle wildfire emerges, forcing evacuation of tiny town of Sanford
Get the latest updates as firefighters continue battling massive fires that have burned more than 1 million acres. Full Story
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![A plane prepares drops retardant on the Roughneck fire near Sanford on Sunday, March. 3, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Record winter heat, dry air helped drive Panhandle fire risk
Texas has a wildfire season in winter, but climate change is extending it, scientists say. Full Story
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![Smoke hangs in the Canadian River Valley south of Stinnett, Texas after multiple days of wild fires Friday, March. 1, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texas wildfires: how to help and how to stay safe
As firefighters work to put out the largest wildfire in Texas history, here’s a guide to fire weather watches, safety tips and how to find organizations collecting donations to directly help local residents, including farmers and ranchers. Full Story
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![Members of the West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department ready their equipment in Fritch, Tx. Residents have been working to recover from the Tuesday grass fires that devastated parts of the panhandle.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
As Biden and Trump visit the border, many Texas residents feel ignored
When the two presidents used the Texas-Mexico boundary as a backdrop for the national immigration fight, residents felt they were left out of the conversation. Full Story
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![Pedestrians walk through downtown Brownsville early Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. President Joe Biden visited Brownsville on Thursday, receiving briefings from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, USCIS, and ICE along the border before giving remarks at the Brownsville Border Patrol Station.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texans in the Panhandle recall towering smoke and darkened skies as wildfires crept near their towns
The fires have left at least two people dead and four injured firefighters. Cattle have been lost and homes and businesses decimated in their wake. Full Story
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![A car sits front of the burned the Rose Trailer Sales business on State Highway 136. Residents have been working to recover from the Tuesday grass fires that devastated parts of the panhandle.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Firefighters rush to subdue deadly Panhandle wildfire before dangerous conditions return Saturday
Light rain and snow Thursday allowed firefighters to gain better control of the state’s largest-ever fire, which has killed at least two people. Full Story
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![A satellite view of the aftermath of the Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Fritch, Texas, U.S. February 28, 2024.]()
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“Nobody really knows what you’re supposed to do”: Leaking, exploding abandoned wells wreak havoc in West Texas
The Texas Railroad Commission is tasked with plugging wells. But the state regulators say their scope is limited. Full Story
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![Bill Wight looks at the well that was leaking high volumes of salt water on his land Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, in Crane County.]()
Credit: Sarah M. Vasquez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas wildfires continue growing as firefighters struggle to contain massive Panhandle blazes
The five fires have burned more than a million acres — more than double the landmass of Houston — as residents have fled or sheltered in place. Full Story
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![Wildfires have erupted in the Texas Panhandle this week.]()
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Texas Tech System receives 6,000 acres in state’s “Big Empty” region for research, learning labs
The property is currently an observatory surrounded by open land. System officials say they’ll use it for agricultural research and other opportunities. Full Story
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![Fred Koch donated 6,000 acres of a vast Texas expanse known as "The Big Empty" to the Texas Tech University System.]()
Credit: Courtesy of the 3 Rivers Foundation
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