By Christina Maxouris, Elizabeth Wolfe, Eric Zerkel and Mary Gilbert, CNN
From CNN Meteorologist Mary Gilbert and CNN's Andy Rose
The Smokehouse Creek Fire has burned 500,000 acres since igniting Monday afternoon, making it the second-largest wildfire on record in Texas, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
It remains completely uncontained and is likely to grow further.
The largest wildfire was the East Amarillo Complex fire in 2006, which consumed more than 900,000 acres, according to Texas A&M.
From CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller
The Smokehouse Creek Fire grew from a 40,000-acre fire Tuesday morning to a 500,000-acre monster as of Wednesday morning.
Since the fire started on Monday afternoon, it has spread at an average rate of 150 football fields every minute.
The fire has now charred an area of Texas land more than half the size of Rhode Island and 11 times the size of Washington, DC.
From CNN Meteorologist Mary Gilbert
Multiple wildfires ignited Monday afternoon and exploded in size Tuesday, tearing across the Texas Panhandle amid unseasonably warm, dry and windy conditions.
The largest of these fires -- the Smokehouse Creek Fire -- burned 500,000 acres in less than 48 hours and prompted evacuations in multiple counties. Wildfires continue to grow Wednesday as firefighters struggle to contain them.
Many homes on the perimeter of Canadian, Texas, have been burned by the rapidly growing Smokehouse Creek Fire, Hemphill County Judge Lisa Johnson told The Canadian Record, an independent weekly newspaper in the Texas Panhandle.
From CNN's Andy Rose
The city of Fritch, Texas, is asking for outside help to bring their water system back online after a massive wildfire knocked out power.
City officials said in a Facebook post Wednesday morning that they need a 75,000-volt industrial generator “to help get our water back up.”
The town was previously urged to conserve water amid the firefight.
Fritch is near two active wildfires, one of which is the enormous Smokehouse Creek Fire, which has burned 500,000 acres as of Wednesday morning with 0% containment.
Parts of the town were urged to evacuate Tuesday.
Melissa Alonso
The fast-moving fires in the Texas Panhandle have left some farmers and ranchers scrambling to protect their property.
"I am deeply concerned about the devastating wildfires raging through the Texas Panhandle," Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a statement.
"These fires not only threaten lives and property but also have a significant impact on our agriculture industry. We stand in solidarity with our farmers and ranchers facing loss and destruction. Our thoughts are with them during this challenging time, and we're committed to supporting their recovery efforts every step of the way," the statement continued.
At the Turkey Track Ranch near Stinnett, Texas, workers were forced to cut fences on Tuesday as they worked to move cattle away from the flames of the Smokehouse Creek Fire.
"We’ve lost cattle. Not sure what is alive and isn’t," said Katlyn Butler, whose husband works at the ranch.
"The effects of wildfire on the animal agriculture community can be devastating. Please keep those affected and those responding to fires in the panhandle of Texas in your thoughts," the Texas Animal Health Commission said in a statement Tuesday night.
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
Many homes on the perimeter of Canadian, Texas, have been burned by the rapidly growing Smokehouse Creek Fire, Hemphill County Judge Lisa Johnson told The Canadian Record, an independent weekly newspaper in the Texas Panhandle.
“Homes have burned in almost every direction,” Johnson told the Record.
It is unclear how many homes and businesses have been impacted.
Firefighting resources are stretched thin as emergency personnel respond to several fires stretching across the Texas Panhandle and into Oklahoma, Johnson said. "We’re just doing the best we can," she added.
The city, which is the seat of Hemphill County, was under an evacuation order Tuesday until road closures prompted officials to ask people to shelter in place. Many people were able to leave the city, but about 50 were sheltering at a local church, Johnson said.
State and local authorities have been going door-to-door doing welfare checks and an emergency command center will monitor the fires overnight, she added.
From CNN's Elizabeth Wolfe
Texas' Hutchinson County, which includes the cities of Borger and Fritch, is dealing with a "disaster" as fires have caused significant damage to homes and businesses and caused power outages and water shortages, a county official said.
“The damage is bad. You would be shocked if you were to travel between here and Borger," Hutchinson County emergency management coordinator Jerry Langwell told evacuees sheltering at the Celebration Family Church in Fritch, Texas, on Tuesday night.
Hundreds of people were sheltering at the church Tuesday as several parts of the county were urged to evacuate, including Fritch.
Due to infrastructure damage from the fires, water pumps are not operational in Fritch, and the city is anticipating widespread power outages, Langwell said in a Facebook livestream.
Nearly 2,000 people in the county were without power late Tuesday night, according to PowerOutage.us.
Firefighting resources in the county are also stretched thin as they battle blazes in several directions, Langwell said. Gov. Greg Abbott's office is sending aerial firefighting equipment and two disaster recovery task forces to the county, Langwell added.
Though Borger and other areas had not yet been ordered to evacuate Tuesday night, the county emergency management office urged people to stay alert and have a bag packed in case they need to move quickly.
"We have so many fires going in the county that it is extremely hard to keep everyone on the same page while they actively respond on the front lines. Pray for the safety of all involved. And pack your go bag just in case," the office said on Facebook.
From CNN’s Melissa Alonso and Amanda Jackson
A local state of disaster has been declared for the Texas Panhandle city of Amarillo, Texas, and Potter and Randall counties as a raging wildfire advances toward the area, according to the Amarillo Area Office of Emergency Management. Amarillo is in Potter County, and Randall County is adjacent, to the south.
A mandatory evacuation order was issued for the Mesilla Park subdivision north of Amarillo but the order was lifted overnight. "Other areas are not currently being impacted," the emergency management office said in a Facebook post.
Smoke from the sprawling fires is streaming southward into the Amarillo area, making air quality poor, the National Weather Service office in Amarillo said.
The disaster declaration notifies state officials that the region needs emergency assistance and additional resources to respond to the fires.
From CNN's Joe Sutton and Jason Hanna
At least five growing wildfires were threatening communities in the Texas Panhandle as of early Wednesday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service Incident Viewer.
So far, more than 370,000 acres have been burned by the fires, according to the forest service.
The threat has sparked evacuation orders and shelter-in-place advisories for several communities in the region.
Here are the current wildfire statuses:
Smokehouse Creek Fire
Windy Deuce Fire
Grape Vine Creek Fire
687 Reamer Fire
Magenta Fire
Note: The fires listed above are crossing over into other Texas counties and causing impacts, and some flames have moved into Oklahoma. It wasn't immediately clear if any of the burned acres described above were in Oklahoma. Also, the Juliet Pass Fire, which was burning earlier Tuesday around Texas' Armstrong County, has been 100% contained after scorching nearly 3,000 acres.
