Texas Wildfire In Amarillo, Potter County: Firefighters Battling Multiple Blazes Nearby

Update: 3 a.m. EDT — Three of the four wildfires ignited in Texas, on Sunday, are still burning. One home has been destroyed in the Old Muddy Road fire that has zero containment at present. Covering 3000 acres, it is the largest fire among all the four.

The fire at 9th and Helium Road flared back up just before 11:30 p.m. local time (12:30 a.m. EDT) and crews had to rush back in to control the hot spots. It was earlier reported that the grass fire was 85 percent contained and the forward progression of the fire, which had crossed Soncy, Texas, and was heading east was stopped.

Although smaller grass fires started due to high speed winds blowing burning embers into other areas, the fire crews confirmed the situation was under control.

As for the Channing fire, it is headed east away from the city. It is currently located north of Bushland, in the southwest of the city. The start of school will be delayed on Monday, due to the uncertainty of the fire and the bad traffic along bus routes, Channing Independent School District announced on their website.

“On Monday, March 19th, 2018, Channing ISD will be starting school at 10:00 a.m. due to the uncertainty of the grass fires and bus routes. Buses will still run and leave pickup locations two hours later than normal. We know there are power lines down across one of the highways and fires are still burning. We feel this is the safest thing to do at this point,” it read.

Update: Monday, 12:50 a.m. EDT — After the Broadway fire and the 9th and Helium Road fire, the Amarillo Fire Department reported another fire in the Potter County — this time off of Old Muddy Road in Valle De Oro.

The fire has currently engulfed 3000 acres of land in the CrossBar Ranch in the Bureau of Land Management area, Potter County Fire Chief Richard Lake reported.

The fire has destroyed eight structures so far and four or five structures are threatened, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service Dispatch Tracker. The fire is located along the same Canadian River terrain as the Channing fire in Hartley County.

Information regarding its containment is presently unknown; so is the cause of the fire.

Original story:

The Amarillo Fire Department (AFD) in Texas was battling multiple fires Sunday.

9th and Helium Road Fire

The National Weather Service advised everyone who lives near the intersection of 9th Avenue and Loop 335 in Amarillo, Potter County, Texas, to evacuate immediately, as the fire spread over 500 acres and continues to grow.

A fire that started near 9th Avenue and Helium Road burnt the parking lots of Texas Oncology, Northwest Texas Healthcare System and the Texas Tech University Health Science Center, according to the AFD. However, the hospitals were not evacuated and patients inside were reported safe, local news outlet Tucson News Now reported.

The fire was 50 percent contained. No casualties or structural damage were reported at this time.

AFD has requested everyone to avoid the route in order for first responders to do their job properly after there were reports of “sight seers” obstructing emergency services from getting to the area of the fire.

There was major traffic blockage due to the fire. Traffic on Coulter from the south of the hospitals to the north and in the area of the 9th and Quail Creek is currently blocked.

The cause of the fire is unknown

Channing Fire

Twelve power poles were knocked down near FM 722, Channing, Hartley County, Texas, that ignited two fires in the area, the sheriff’s department confirmed.

The fire spread to 1000 acres and is not contained at this moment.

Residents living in the area between FM 722 and FM 354 were given orders to evacuate their houses and wait for further instructions from their city officials.

The uneven and rough terrain of the Canadian River passage might be aiding in the fast spread of the fire, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported.

Broadway and Hastings Avenue Fire

A small grass fire near Broadway and Hastings Avenue in Potter County, Texas, was brought completely under control. The fire was unable to spread beyond 25 to 30 acres due to lack of fuelling agents in the area — the land had been cleared for construction — and because the area has already sustained another grass fire in the recent past, AFD Captain Larry Davis confirmed, local news outlet My High Plains reported.

Although there were residential buildings and vineyards near the area, the Potter County Fire Department, who worked with AFD to bring the fire under control, reported that the fire stopped several hundred yards short of affecting those areas. There were no reports of any structural damage or injuries to life.

This is a developing story.