Wildfires Burn in Texas as High Heat, Low Humidity Persist

Triple digit temperatures, low humidity and extreme drought conditions across much of Texas have firefighters battling wildfires and residents doing their best to escape the heat.

The state’s largest wildfire, the Harmon Road Fire, continues to burn in Coryell County where more than 5,000 acres has charred. Firefighters continue to try and control blazes in Brown, Burnet, Hood, Nolan and Llano Counties, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) reports.

In Coryelle County, 30 homes were threatened by the Harmon Road Fire but a voluntary evacuation was lifted on July 22, according to the Associated Press. The blaze was about 35 percent contained as of Sunday but was moving toward the small town of Pearl, about 55 miles west of Waco, the AP reported.

Nick Harrison with the Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) told the ICT that the extremely hot temperatures and dry conditions arrived much sooner than expected this summer.

“We’re not seeing the humidity recover at night, which would help firefighters, and the continued dry, hot conditions have placed most of Texas west of IH 35 in a critical fire state,” Harrison said.

Temperatures in Texas have soared well above 100 degrees throughout the state over the past week. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory today for the Central Texas counties of Atascosa, Frio, Medina, and Uvalde. High temperatures will range from 101 to 104 degrees with heat indices ranging from 106 to 109 degrees.