AMARILLO, Texas (RFD News) — Wildfires burning across the Texas Panhandle are threatening farms, ranches, and rural communities as crews continue working to contain multiple fires in the region.
One large fire south of Amarillo has burned more than 34,000 acres and is now mostly contained. Another fire west of Amarillo has burned more than 2,500 acres and remains only 20 percent contained.
Mandatory evacuations remain in place in some areas as aircraft and ground crews work to protect homes and structures.
Many of the firefighters responding are volunteers, including farmer and firefighter Zack Altman, who says the emotional toll of the fires is something he will never forget.
“I’ll never forget sitting in that fire station, and a truck rolls in, the driver gets out of the truck, and all the other firefighters there just go up and hug and cry with him.” Altman said, “He is fighting this fire while his house burned down and he took time away from that to save somebody else’s stuff when his was burning and lost everything.”
As the fires continue drawing national attention, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz says prescribed burns remain one of the most effective tools available for wildfire prevention.
“It’s the most effective means that we can use. It’s the cheapest means by which we can treat acres, and we have increased. I mentioned previously that so far, year to date, year over year, we’ve increased the number of acres that we’ve used prescribed fire on year over year significantly. Other tools that we’re looking at are firefighters. So, in addition to the field work that we do, it’s also looking at the capacity that we have.”
Schultz says the department has hired more than 1,000 additional firefighters over the last year, along with another 500 support personnel to assist during major wildfire events.
