The conditions could make driving difficult and limit visibility to one to two miles at times in some areas. Drivers are advised to go slow on roads and maintain space between vehicles. The conditions could also aggravate allergies, asthma and other medical conditions for some residents, according to the weather service.
The Ross fire started in Palo Pinto County on Monday. It expanded Tuesday to include parts of Jack County and stretched over tens of thousands of acres. Firefighters were working on containing the wildfire throughout Wednesday, amid high temperatures and dry heat fueling its flames.
As of Wednesday afternoon, winds were pushing the smoke southeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said Parker Davis, a meteorologist with the weather service. The office received reports of limited visibility in some areas, Davis said, that resembled a “much more of a thick, soupy kind of haze – more so than a fog would be.”
Still, smoke was observed in Fort Worth on Wednesday, bringing hazing skies and a lingering stench to the city. The Dallas Morning News’ air quality tracker, which updates every 10 minutes, showed that some areas near Fort Worth were marked as “very unhealthy” or “unhealthy for all.”
Fort Worth ISD sent out a text notifying families that all outdoor activities and practices were canceled. At least two elementary schools — Waverly Park and Western Hills — canceled outdoor recess for the day, and other campuses were monitoring conditions, the school system said in a letter to parents.
Fire departments in Arlington, Early, Mansfield and Winchell posted on social media that they received several 911 calls reporting the smell of smoke, but warned residents to hold off on calling the emergency line unless they saw actual flames. They attributed the smell to the Ross fire.
The Winchell Volunteer Fire Department wrote on social media that calls reporting smoke in the area “turn into nothing.”
“The 911 [lines] need to remain open for actual emergency,” they wrote.