Governor Greg Abbott announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved a request from the State of Texas for a Fire Management Assistant Grant (FMAG) for the Hunggate Fire in Randall County, which threatened and damaged homes and infrastructure in the Texas Panhandle and forced local evacuations.
“Texas will provide all necessary resources to ensure the well-being of those affected by wildfires in the Panhandle area,” said Gov. Abbott. “I thank the Trump Administration for swiftly approving this grant, which will help support Texas’ response efforts. Texans are urged to limit any activities that can cause a spark and heed the guidance of state and local officials to prevent additional wildfires and keep themselves and their loved ones safe.”
As of Monday morning, May 18, the Hunggate Fire, which merged with the Chocolate Chip Fire, burned an estimated 34,124 acres combined and was 95% contained.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said that by noon Sunday, no smoke was visible on the fire. Crews continued to mop-up and patrol the fire. As of Monday morning, crews continued to patrol the fire’s edge and checked for any issues that needed to be addressed.
The fire prompted the evacuation of approximately 350 homes southwest of Canyon and threatened more than 1,245 homes in the surrounding area. State and local response personnel were actively engaged in containment, suppression and public safety operations since the fires were sparked by dry lightning on Thursday, May 14.
The grant approval makes the State of Texas eligible for 75% reimbursement from the federal government for costs associated with wildfire suppression. These grants are available to states and local jurisdictions to support the mitigation, management and control of fires that threaten to become major disasters.
At the governor’s direction, state wildfire response resources remain deployed by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to support local wildfire response efforts across the state. TDEM and the Texas Emergency Management Council agencies continue to monitor increased wildfire conditions across areas of West and Northwest Texas.
Texans can find wildfire resources including safety tips, current fire information, and damage reporting tools in the TDEM Disaster Portal online at disaster.texas.gov.
Other Texas Panhandle wildfires, seen May 14-17
After Thursday’s first round of fires from the dry lightning, new fires and flare-ups happened Friday. The Hunggate Fire at one point shut down both directions of I-27 south of Amarillo as the blaze jumped the highway and smoke created dangerously low visibility for travel. The River Falls area and other neighborhoods east of I-27 had evacuations for a time due to fire and smoke before it was safe to lift them.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park was also closed as a precaution over the weekend, as were multiple roads.
On Sunday, two new fires sparked in Potter and Oldham counties. The Blue Diamond Fire burned hundreds of acres the Boys Ranch area — which already has several burn scars from fires earlier this year — and a fire started in the Amarillo city landfill, prompting voluntary evacuations and more road closures.
The city landfill closed early Monday due to high winds. This closure was separate from the ongoing fire response that began May 17. The city said Monday that response operations remained active at the site, and the city engaged a specialized contractor to assist with extinguishing the fire both above and below ground. Landfill fires can continue beneath the surface even after visible flames or smoke decrease, and crews were continuing to to monitor conditions, contain affected areas, and safely manage the response.
First responders worked to quickly contain fires in several other counties, including Hutchinson, Ochiltree and Dallam, among many others, where fires’ sizes were not included in the Texas A&M Forest Service information.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said between May 14 and 15, firefighters and all assigned resources responded to 18 wildfires, which burned more than 55,850 acres statewide. As of May 18, the area experienced the following fires:
Fully contained fires:
The critical fire weather conditions continued into Monday, with a red flag warning in effect for most of the day, before a cold front in the forecast could potentially bring some much needed relief later in the week.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: FEMA grant approved for Hunggate Fire recovery efforts
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
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