Wildfires rage across Texas by Elizabeth Saary
Outbreaks of wildfires have ignited across parts of Texas threatening homes and burning thousands of acres of land. The fires across Texas have been fuelled by strong winds and weeks of bone-dry weather that has left much of the state tinder-dry. The recent dry weather has been caused by high pressure which has dominated the south and east USA over the past few weeks.
In King County, 200 miles (322 km) west of Fort Worth, a 10,000 acre wildfire crossed a main highway and raced towards the towns of Benjamin and Knox City. In Dimmitt County in Southwest Texas, over 20 homes were evacuated from a nearby fire that was covering 64,000 acres. Firefighters have been battling the blazes which were brought under control yesterday.
The Texas Forest Service was concerned that the extreme wildfire conditions would resemble the devastating outbreak which occurred on 12 March 2006. The blaze scorched over 947,000 acres near Amarillo, and burned for several days.
Meanwhile, in southern Australia, the continuing heatwave has raised fears of further wildfire outbreaks after a recent fire charred 370 acres of land near Willunga in south Adelaide, destroying several homes and injuring nine firefighters.
The warm, dry conditions in Texas are set to come to an end as cooler and wetter conditions are likely to spread in from the northwest over the next few days. Similarly in south Australia the heatwave conditions around Adelaide will abate as cooling southwesterly winds set in by mid next week.
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