KENNEDALE, Texas – Fires fueled by dry brush and driven by gusty wind raced across parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Tuesday, killing at least one person, damaging scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of a small town.
In Cross Plains, a town of about 1,000 people 150 miles southwest of Dallas, at least 25 homes and a church were burned and residents evacuated.
“All day today there was so much smoke it was like nighttime,” rancher Dean Dillard said.
Gov. Rick Perry deployed state firefighters and issued a disaster declaration after at least 73 fires were reported burning in the northern and central parts of the state.
“It’s like trying to stop a 30-mph car coming down the street,” Texas Deputy Fire Marshal Keith Ebel said. “The wind is the worst enemy right now.”
Drought and windy conditions help set the stage for the wildfires, which authorities believe were mainly set by people ignoring fire bans and burning trash, shooting fireworks or tossing cigarettes on the grass.
In Cooke County, near the Texas-Oklahoma border, an elderly woman was killed, said Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Traci Weaver. No details were available.
In Oklahoma, the biggest fire burned at least 400 acres in a rural area near the town of Mustang, southwest of Oklahoma City.
At least two Oklahoma firefighters were being treated for smoke inhalation or heat exhaustion, authorities said. In Texas, at least three firefighters were hospitalized with smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, authorities said.
Fire burned across Bryan County in southeastern Oklahoma. The most severe blaze destroyed at least three structures near Achille and resulted in an unknown number of injuries, mostly from smoke inhalation, said Tim Cooke, the county’s emergency management director.
“Our entire county is just about on fire,” Cooke said. “It’s everywhere.”
In Texas, Fort Worth Fire Department Lt. Kent Worley said crews had fought nine brush fires during the first half of the day and he expected more. His department also helped battle a blaze in nearby Kennedale, where two apartment complexes were evacuated.
“It looked like the world was on fire,” said Arlington Battalion Chief David Stapp.
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