Just saw how bad it was yesterday. Hope things are getting better today.

Winds are down today to about 10 mph. Grass fires are still burning though. Nearly 700,000 acres burned so far. Gray County looks likes like a black desert.

Beside the loss of human life, alot of cattle and horses were lost.

I've been told by a farmer/rancher/volunteer firefighter that in a regular pasture, a fire doesn't present that great a threat to the livestock -- that it burns through fast and they may have to run through the flames, but that they can usually escape.

If it was on CRP, it would be much different.

[This message has been edited by eric76 (edited 3/13/2006 5:00p).]

Our UPS deliveryman lives in or near Pampa. He said he could see the flames from his house.

I asked him why he didn't grab a gunnysack, wet it down, and use it to fight the fire. He said he preferred to just leave.

The wind pushed the flames so fast, the loss of livestock was much higher than usual. Latest estimate is about 1200 square miles, 750,000 acres burned.

To put that in perspective, imagine driving from College Station to Austin, and burning a 13 mile wide path as you go.

Photo slideshow:

http://www.amarillo.com/panhandlewildfire/

Wow. I pray that you folks get some relief from those fires with which you've had to contend. I drove through Cross Plains several months ago, and it was pretty shocking.

A friend of mine sent me some pictures. The dead cattle in these pictures didn't look like they were burned. Perhaps they died from the smoke.

The loss of life and property is tragic.

Burned land in Texas is now up to 3.75M acres since Dec.

640 acres = 1 sq mile

that's 5,781 sq miles burned

2.2% of Texas land area.. as a perspective that's Rhode Island and Connecticut added together.

Have any fires re-ignited today or new ones started? I heard the wind was bad again today.

We are getting little info in the Houston area news media. What we do hear is often wrong or does not tell all of the story.

the wind speed was supposed to worsen today (30-40 mph-->40-50 mph gusts) so there is no telling if the condition could worsen or if it will stay under control.

Lived and grew up in Borger, used to go out to that greenhouse all the time. (the one that burned and 3 people died in)

Saw in the local paper where ranchers here are already getting a hay donation ready to send up to the panhandle as soon as they have the fires out.