Wildfire in the Tx Panhandle and it is a fast moving monster. (Page 2/2)
Raydar MAR 06, 01:33 PM
How is this going? I haven't heard anything on the news for days.

Edit - Found it. 44% contained is still better than nothing.
Smokehouse Creek Fire, Hutchinson County - est. 1,059,570 acres, 44% contained

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 03-06-2024).]

maryjane MAR 06, 06:15 PM
They've had a few days of better firefighting weather and the wind has shifted back toward the burned area. And, the snowfall out in Calif had taken center stage for the news media as well as super tuesday and the usual politics talk.
cliffw MAR 08, 09:35 AM
Utility company admits role it played in sparking largest fire in Texas history.
maryjane MAR 10, 12:02 PM
Xcel really didn't have much choice, since a homeowner had pictures of the pole and line down when the Smokehouse Creek blaze was just beginning. Proving the company tho, didn't properly maintain their equipment may be harder. Winds in the panhandle are almost always blowing hard, with little but a few barbed wire fences between Texas and the Canadian border to slow the wind down. Wires swaying back and forth for an extended period of time exerts a lot of strain on even new poles.
Not making excuses for them, but that region isn't like a town or neighborhood where lateral lines have a pole with a transformer every 150'. It's a pretty long span between poles out in rural regions. I have no idea what the spacing regs are on it tho.