Texas cities evacuated due to fires

Seven wildfires are raging in the US state of Texas, including one of the largest in the state's recent history, authorities said. Property was destroyed, numerous evacuation orders were issued, especially in the north. The North Plains fire has burned about 850,000 acres, an area roughly half the size of the state of Delaware, reported AFP. 
After gusty winds and unusually high temperatures, the state recorded 25 wildfires, 18 of which were contained as of Wednesday afternoon. Gov. Greg Abbott declared a 60-county state of emergency on Tuesday as fires near the northern city of Amarillo temporarily shut down a nuclear weapons plant.
In Canadian, one of the towns closest to the fire, there were "quite a few homes burned," Mayor Terrill Bartlett told CNN, but "luckily no one was seriously injured." According to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, the fire was moving at the speed of two football fields per second. The National Weather Service in Amarillo, the region's largest city, said Wednesday that cool temperatures were expected "with light winds," which authorities hoped would help fight the fires. In the town of Borger, authorities showed footage of smoldering areas devastated, including several buildings engulfed in flames.
City officials said they had opened a shelter for the displaced while evacuation orders were issued for much of the nearby town of Fritsch, large parts of which were without power or water.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden was getting an update on the incident and the White House was in contact with frontline staff, his spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said. Amarillo had serious air quality issues as winds pushed smoke into the area Tuesday. Cities across the U.S. and Canada saw record February temperatures this week, with summer-like temperatures in some. /BGNES