Fire crews were struggling to get a handle on multiple wildfires burning across Texas on Monday as one blaze jumped the state border into Oklahoma. Strong winds and dry conditions this past weekend exacerbated flames, including the Smokehouse Creek Fire in northern Texas which remains only 15 per cent contained, according to the forest service.
That fire has burned more than 1.1 million acres across the Texas Panhandle and destroyed 500 structures, Texas authorities confirmed.
The monster wildfire is the largest in state history. It’s suspected that it’s destroyed 500 structures and killed hundreds of cattle.
The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a red flag warning for the entire Panhandle from late Saturday morning through midnight Sunday after rain and snow on Thursday allowed firefighters to contain a portion of the fire.
The fires have killed at least two people.
One woman believes she knows she cause of the fires, according to CNN. In a lawsuit filed last week, Melanie McQuiddy blamed an electric company, Xcel Energy, and its inspection contractor, Southwestern Public Service Company, for not properly maintaining a pole that she says fell and started the blaze.