wild fires

As fires erupted South of Amarillo again this weekend, 3 local fire fighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze. It seems the moment we think we are getting a break from these fires, there is an alert on the radio stating there is another one.

The question has been up in the air for a while now and we have now gotten our answer. Potter, Carson and Armstrong counties have temporarily banned the sale and use of any fireworks. These counties made a disaster declaration to Perry, and waiting on approval for a 30 day extension to reach through the July 4th holiday. Randall County has made no such declaration.

As much of the country deals with the aftermath of massive floods and tornado wreckage, Amarillo residents and land owners survey the damage resulting from the massive wildfires over the last week. Houses burned to the ground, multiple evacuations and the fear that it could continue keep Amarillo area residents on edge as the this week starts.

The fire threat in Amarillo is still very high and for the third day in a row, crews battle flames. People in the Panhandle are used to these threats, but it does not make dealing with these fires any easier. The more resources are pooled into this effort, the more wore out these firefighters become.

This weeks fires have left the Amarillo landscape changed, at least for a while. Huge areas are scorched and smoldering after fires have raged in the area. Residents were evacuated from LaPaloma and the surrounding area yesterday as fires threatened that community. For now, everything has calmed down. But with no rain in sight, Amarillo is still in a high fire threat.

Little rain and high winds make for dangerous situations in the Texas Panhandle. The extremely dry conditions have the risk of wildfires in the red. Yesterday is just another instance of a fire that sends people fleeing and wondering what's next. Use caution whenever you are planning outdoor events and especially when smoking outdoors.

Since wild fires and tornadoes aren't scary enough here's a video of a fire tornado from 2007.

In the wake of the recent Amarillo Wildfires, the fire threat level has been raised for Thursday in the panhandle. The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch.

We will be setting up donations for fire relief. The victims of this disaster need you help in any form that you can give it. We will post the instructions for donating.