As of this week, nearly 90% of the wildfires that started in the Texas Panhandle and slowly moved into western Oklahoma were finally under control after getting their deadly start last month.
But strong south winds on Wednesday brought potentially more danger to the region as firefighters feared they might reignite or rebuild the fires that left 3 persons dead and thousands of livestock killed.
Red Flag warnings were posted in Oklahoma in the western regions of the state and the Oklahoma Panhandle. The Oklahoma Forestry Division described conditions as “critical fire weather” on Wednesday and stated there was “elevated fire weather in the western Panhandle.”
“Unfortunately, wetting rains (or any rains) are not expected over western Oklahoma although current forecasts do point to moderated fire weather through the remainder of the week,” stated the latest fire advisory from the Forestry Division.
Red flag warnings were in place across New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming, reported the National Weather Service.
The Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma wildfires consumed more than a million acres of land. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster in 60 counties.
Investigators believe a power line downed by a weakened utility pole might have sparked the blaze in Texas, leading to at least one-half dozen lawsuits filed against Xcel Energy, the utility in the region.
Last week, Xcel Energy issued a statement indicating that perhaps its utility lines might have caused the infernos.
