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.