A wildfire that was fueled by a mix of low humidity, hot temperatures and fierce winds broke out and spread throughout Texas on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. Consequently, the flames burnt more than a million acres (405,000 hectares) across the state including several massive blazes in West Texas, destroyed a hundred homes and forced evacuations in several towns near the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Authorities of Palo Pinto, a town not far from Strawn, required 400 residents to leave the city on Tuesday evening. More than 1,500 local, state and national firefighters have been gathered to control the huge blazes.
As of Wednesday, April 20, 2011, six specially equipped U.S. military planes flew 32 missions in Texas to drop 90,000 gallons (340,000 liters) of retardant.
A running wildfire threatened a home on April 19, 2011 in Strawn, Texas
Four foundation pillars are all that remain standing from a home destroyed by the wildfire in Strawn, Texas on April 19
A firefighter walks across a patio when a wildfire burns in the background at a home in Strawn, Texas on April 19
Emergency crews drop fire retardant on a wildfire on April 19 in Strawn, Texas
The dome of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory stands close to burning mountains when the Texas wildfires spread near the state capital of Austin on April 18, 2011
A bull tries to escape from a burning field in Graford, Texas on April 19. Many residents in the town of San Angelo have to pack horses into trailers and take them to the local rodeo stadium for safety
A wooden owl standing guard is posed next to firefighter Craig Howard when he shouts at arriving reinforcements at a home near Possum Kingdom that was threatened by the raging Texas wildfires on April 19
A thick and black smoke covers a dirt road near Possum Kingdom when Texas’s widespread wildfires continue to break out on April 19, 2011. The National Weather Service said that a cold front should soon move over the state, bringing a 30 percent chance of rain to help water the huge blazes
Fierce Widespread Wildfire Hit Texas