{"id":416372,"date":"2026-08-25T16:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/416372\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T16:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:16:09","slug":"evacuations-ordered-in-rural-texas-as-wildfire-mushrooms-within-hours-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/416372\/","title":{"rendered":"Evacuations ordered in rural Texas as wildfire mushrooms within hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JOHN SEEWER<\/p>\n

Evacuations were being ordered Tuesday in rural Texas where a\u00a0wildfire<\/a>\u00a0has ballooned in size, burning through ranchland and forcing schools to delay or cancel classes.<\/p>\n

The fire that began early Monday afternoon has ripped through more than 78 square miles across lightly populated areas in two counties in north central Texas.<\/p>\n

Perfect fire conditions allowed the fire to shoot up in a matter of hours, said officials with Palo Pinto County\u2019s emergency services district. \u201cWe\u2019ve thrown everything at this, and we\u2019re still having minimal effect,\u201d said Danny Watkins, the fire chief.<\/p>\n

Wildfires have been popping up across the South and western U.S. in recent days as extremely dry conditions persist. A dozen new large fires were reported on Sunday alone, the National Interagency Fire Center said.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, there have been more than\u00a050,000 wildfires<\/a>\u00a0so far this year, the most over the past 10 years covering the same time period, according to the center.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Ross Fire burns in Palo Pinto County, Texas, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Texas A&M Forest Service via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Ross Fire burns in Palo Pinto County, Texas, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Texas A&M Forest Service via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This photo shows Crystal Hallock\u2019s property on Aug. 23, 2026, in northwest Reno, Nevada, after the Hawk Fire destroyed her home. (Brenda Means via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image taken from video shows active wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image taken from video shows plumes of smoke rising from active wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image taken from video shows active wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image taken from video shows a charred neighborhood following wildfires Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Reno, Nevada. (Tim Walton via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Ross Fire burns in Palo Pinto County, Texas, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Texas A&M Forest Service via AP)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 8<\/p>\n

The Ross Fire burns in Palo Pinto County, Texas, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Texas A&M Forest Service via AP)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Firefighters in Nevada\u00a0were making progress<\/a>\u00a0in slowing a fire that forced thousands to evacuate in Reno over the weekend after flames spread dangerously close to densely populated neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Hawk Fire<\/a> has destroyed more than 30 homes across about 23 square miles. Authorities in Nevada said on Monday that the fire was 27% contained.<\/p>\n

The number of residents in the Reno area under evacuation orders and warnings dropped to about 63,000, down from\u00a0more than 90,000 people<\/a>. The fire near the California state line began Saturday and rapidly grew in size on Sunday. At least seven people \u2014 three first responders and four civilians \u2014 were injured.<\/p>\n

Fire officials in Reno blame human activity for the Hawk Fire, saying it was either intentionally set or accidental.<\/p>\n

In Texas, the Ross Fire was only slightly contained as it churned through ranchland about 60 miles west of Fort Worth. At least five structures have been destroyed, according to officials in Palo Pinto County.<\/p>\n

Authorities opened evacuation centers and some schools were closed Tuesday. Ranchers and a livestock commission were offering barns to temporarily hold animals that need to be evacuated.<\/p>\n

Emergency officials expect the fire to keep growing Tuesday as temperatures increase through the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By JOHN SEEWER Evacuations were being ordered Tuesday in rural Texas where a\u00a0wildfire\u00a0has ballooned in size, burning through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28,11504,145014,145015],"class_list":["post-416372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-wildfires","tag-us-wildfires","tag-why-are-there-so-many-wildfires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}