Jim Downey
Panhandle wildfires
Thursday, February 29, 2024, 14:30

It has been an interesting last few days. I live in Pampa located in the Texas panhandle, we’ve had fires all around us and I just heard today that this last fire is the largest in Texas history. Tuesday afternoon we were told to voluntarily evacuate the town, my wife and I stayed and ran our sprinkler system and staged hoses around the house. The fire actually got to within 5 or 6 miles of town before the firefighters stopped it and turned it, those guys are amazing and deserve a lot of respect. We had heavy smoke and suet from the fires but nothing else. My wife and I drove North of town yesterday and looked at some of the aftermath, really sad seeing momma cows burned with their babies laying beside them. Also spotted several Antelope and mule deer dead. The towns of Canadian and Fritch were hit especially hard and many families lost everything. To my knowledge there has been 2 fatalities and 1 firefighter burned. He was a young man that I had hired for a welding position before I retired. He suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his hands and face.