Evacuations ordered as wind-whipped Ross Fire in Texas explodes to 50,000 acres in just hours
A wind-whipped grass fire ignited on Monday near Fort Worth, Texas, rapidly spreading overnight to 50,000 acres and triggering evacuations, officials said.
The Ross Fire in Palo Pinto County, Texas, which has also shut down a highway, is the latest in a series of wildfires across the West and Northwest, and came just as fire crews in Nevada were making progress in battling a massive fire near Reno that has destroyed or damaged more than 50 homes and prompted 42,000 evacuations.
The Ross Fire was just 5% contained on Tuesday morning as it spread north into neighboring Jack County, where more people have been advised to evacuate, officials said.
"Firefighters are prioritizing life safety and structure protection, while working to establish containment lines where conditions safely allow," the Texas A&M Forest Service said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Ross Fire started about 1:30 p.m. local time on Monday near the town of Palo Pinto, about 60 miles west of Fort Worth, and grew to 18,000 acres in just 12 hours, according to the Palo Pinto Emergency Services Department.
"Residents are strongly encouraged to leave the area now, particularly those who may need additional time or assistance evacuating," the Palo Pinto County Sheriff said in a social media statement issued Monday night.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Firefighters making progress battling the Hawk Fire in Nevada
Meanwhile, firefighters are gaining the upper hand on a massive brush fire that ignited over the weekend in the hills in Northern Nevada near Reno, destroying numerous homes and prompting the evacuation of 42,000 people over the past few days, officials said.
At a press briefing Tuesday afternoon, Nevada fire officials said the fire has burned more than 15,000 acres, destroyed at least 47 homes and seriously damaged eight others. At least seven people, including three first responders, have been injured in the blaze, officials said.
Containment lines around the Hawk Fire on Monday went from zero to 27%, and fire crews appear to have stopped the blaze from reaching the community of Somersett in northwest Reno, fire officials said at a news conference earlier Tuesday.
Evacuation orders have been lifted in some areas, and the number of people under evacuation has been reduced to 23,000 from 42,000.
The Hawk Fire is suspected to be human-caused, but officials said investigators have yet to determine if it was intentionally or accidentally set.
15 large wildfires are burning in Washington
In the state of Washington, 15 large uncontained fires have consumed 800,000 acres, officials said.
The largest fires currently in Washington are the Little Giant Fire in Chelan County, which has consumed more than 142,000 acres, and the Sinlahekin Fire in Okanogan County, which has burned more than 155,000 acres.
The Sinlahekin Fire, which was started by a lightning strike on July 26, was 55% contained on Tuesday, officials said. The Little Giant Fire, also sparked by a lightning strike on July 15, was 15% contained on Tuesday, officials said.
Both fires are burning in remote areas of the state and are not threatening homes, officials said.
"Washington is comfortably in the third-worst fire season from an acres burned perspective since 2015," Thomas Kyle-Milward, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, told ABC affiliate station KOMO in Seattle.
Kyle-Milward said this wildfire season has been particularly challenging for firefighters, noting that the state has had multiple fires over 100,000 acres.
A series of fires earlier this month in Spokane caused $1 billion in damage, including destroying more than 800 homes, the Spokane County Assessor announced last week.
A 37-year-old man was arrested and charged with starting the Old Trails Fire on Aug. 1, one of three major wildfires that became known as the Spokane Complex Fire.
