AUSTIN (AP) – Wildfires fuelled by dry conditions and gusting winds burned in a few Southern states, forcing evacuations in Texas and prompting Florida officials to close part of a major highway with spring break in high gear.
A wildfire in Sam Houston National Forest near Houston prompted the evacuation of about 900 homes and closed schools. The National Weather Service issued elevated fire warnings around the nation’s fourth-largest city.
The fire burned about 9.6 square kilometres and was only about 20 per cent contained on Thursday afternoon as firefighters used water-carrying helicopters to douse hot spots and bulldozers to dig containment lines, the Texas A&M Forest Service said.
Investigators believed the fire was started on Wednesday by what was supposed to be a controlled burn on private property, said assistant chief law enforcement officer with the Texas A&M Forest Service Josh Mizrany. Investigators will look into how the fire spread, he said, and evidence could be turned over to local prosecutors if necessary.
Officials had not reported widespread damage or any injuries. Montgomery County officials said they knew of one home that burned to the ground.
The Cleveland Independent School District, which has about 12,000 students, cancelled classes as a precaution.
In the Florida Keys, a large brush fire that began on Tuesday caused authorities to close the two roads leading in and out of the island chain, because of smoky conditions and to allow firefighters to move equipment.
Officials said the fire had burned about 88 square kilometres and was about 20 per cent contained.
The major thoroughfare that connects the mainland to the islands, was expected to have intermittent closures in the coming days.
It is also a heavily travelled road for people who live on the mainland and work at many of the hotels and restaurants in Key Largo and beyond.
In Arkansas, crews responded to nearly than 100 fires on Wednesday that were fuelled by high winds and were dealing with five new ones on Thursday.
The fires closed several highways, including a portion of Interstate 530 southeast of Little Rock due to heavy smoke.
Flames damaged structures in several cities, including Little Rock. The roof collapsed at St Joseph’s, a 115-year-old building in North Little Rock that once served as an orphanage and is now the home of a non-profit that provides urban farming resources.
The South has experienced recent cold and dry conditions, followed by gusting winds that have fanned the flames.
Texas has seen fire hazards range from the far northern Panhandle, where ground vegetation froze and dried out, and push hundreds of miles east to the coast.
South Florida has seen every little rainfall over the past few weeks.
The rainy season doesn’t start until sometime around mid-May. Another cold front with dry air pushed through South Florida on Thursday night, said meteorologist Donal Harrigan with the National Weather Service in Miami.
The weather service issued Red Flag warnings for fire conditions in east Texas and South Florida and could extend them for several days.
Red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when conditions are ripe for fires.
In southeast Texas, weather service officials predicted wind gusts of 40 kilometres per hour, combined with humidity as low as 18 per cent.
That combination will continue to dry out vegetation.
