The Largest Wildfire In US History

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When people think of large wildfires, they usually think about California. The current Park Fire has burned over 400,000 square acres. However, it’s not close to the largest in history..

The Texas Wildfires of February this year burned well over one million acres. The largest section of that fire, known as the Smokehouse Fire, burned 1.4 million. The Texas Wildfires began on February 26 and were not brought under control until March 16.

One of the most common causes of wildfires is downed electrical wires. Some wooden polls that carry these wires are over 60 decades old. Strong winds can bring them down, and in parts of the country bring them down often.

Texas was much warmer in February than in most years. And the speed of wind gusts was higher. At one point, the winds whipped the fire into southern Oklahoma.

The final effects of the fire were that 130 houses were burned. Fortunately most of the fire burned in areas remote from large populations. Only two people were killed. One estimate puts cattle deaths at 7,000. And, the land that was burned cannot be used for grazing, probably for decades.

The question has been asked about whether the Texas Wildfires were caused by climate change, The extreme heat and strong winds were probably not an accident.