As wildfires raged in the Texas Panhandle on Tuesday, the Amarillo Fire Department and other area crews were battling the blazes.
On Sunday, multiple wildfires sprung up in the Texas Panhandle and two notable fires threatened key locations in Amarillo. At 3:45pm on Sunday, crews were sent to the area of Hastings and Broadway on the report of a fire heading north. Crews battled the fire and stopped it before it could head north to the Vineyards neighborhood. The fire was called 100 percent contained by 4:27pm and no losses of structures were reported.
Following the stoppage of the fire, crews conducted a controlled burn to prevent future fires in the area. There was approximately three to four acres of unburned area left that was treated during the successful controlled burn. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Meanwhile, crews battled a major fire near the medical district in Amarillo. Crews were dispatched around 7pm to Southwest 9th and Soncy where they found that a grass fire had crossed Soncy and was headed east at a high rate of speed. The fire pressed toward many of the medical centers and was headed for Northwest Texas Hospital. Evacuations were prepared, but not executed. Crews were able to stop the fire late on Sunday night and remained in the area through the early morning, extinguishing hot spots.
The cause of the fire is believed to have been a downed power line. Approximately 400 acres burned during the fire. No structures were lost and no estimated monetary damages have been released.
Thirty AFD crews, four Potter County fire crews and an unknown number of outside agencies worked to extinguish the fires on Sunday.
Aftermath of the Hastings fire
Photo by Amarillo Fire Dept.