Increased wildfire potential for Texas Panhandle

Starting Wednesday, Dec. 8, the Panhandle region of Texas is facing extreme fire danger days.

With strong winds sustaining at 30-40 mph and gusts of 50 mph, dry and heavy fuel loading, and drought; this all adds to an extreme fire environment for the Texas Panhandle.

According to Juan Rodriguez, who deals with mitigation and prevention for the Texas A&M Forest Service, they are preparing for the elevated conditions by bringing out of branch resources to staff with the task forces located in Amarillo, Childress and Lubbock.

Common starts for wildfires can be roadside starts (chain dragging, blowout) or welding. Good preventative measures can be checking vehicles to be road worthy and having water and a lookout when welding.

Other considerations for preparation against wildfires would be making sure your homes have enough defensible space around them; meaning there is not large clumps of overgrown vegetation close to homes and lawns are maintained.