Wildfires

A brush fire in Moorpark, California, is being fueled by Santa Ana winds and forced evacuations on Wednesday.

A brush fire on the Malibu coast was fueled by strong winds on Wednesday.

A gigantic aircraft capable of long-range flights with thousands of gallons of fire retardant has joined California’s airborne firefighting fleet.

State leaders say the wildfire threat is on the rise in North Texas. The governor’s office says hot dry conditions are driving up the risk for large fires across our area, and the state is launching teams to take on these blazes. NBC 5’s Keenan Willard gives us a look at the tools being used to fight Texas wildfires.

The Texas A&M Forest Service increased the Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to Level 3 to an expected increase in wildfire activity.

Four people in Northern California describe what it’s been like to lose their homes to wildfires twice in six years.

Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy more than 100 firefighters to California after the state requested extra resources. NBC 5 caught up with several North Texans who received the call to help.

Experts say a massive wildfire in northern California and scores of smaller ones across the western U.S. and Canada are the legacy of the nation’s fire-suppression experts and climate change.

Wildfires are continuing to scorch the West and authorities say one major blaze started with a burning car being pushed into a gully.

A wind-driven fire continued to scorch thousands of acres 60 miles east of San Francisco, prompting residents to flee their homes and the closure of two major freeways near the central California city of Tracy.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service estimates the Panhandle wildfires caused $123 million in preliminary agricultural loss. 

Preliminary numbers are in for the damage amount done by the panhandle fires earlier this year– an estimated 123 million dollars in agriculture losses. Some restaurant owners are now worried about rising beef costs. NBC 5’s Vince Sims shares their concerns.

A Texas state House committee has formally found that a decayed and broken utility pole caused the largest wildfire in state history.

Texas’ top emergency manager told a panel of lawmakers that the state should establish a firefighting aircraft division after a series of wildfires, including the largest in state history, scorched the Panhandle region this year.

The largest wildfire in Texas history is 100% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service, and the Texas Department of Agriculture says more than $800,000 has been raised to help farmers and ranchers devastated by the fires.

Maui’s mayor says he is prioritizing housing, evaluating evacuation routes and hiring more firefighters as his Hawaii community recovers from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

Crews from Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, and Flower Mound are among those who responded to wildfires there. Three fires are still active– all are between 87 and 96 percent contained. NBC 5’s Tahera Rahman spoke with one Fort Worth firefighter about what it was like on the front lines.

Power lines ignited massive wildfires across the Texas Panhandle that destroyed homes and killed thousands of livestock, officials said Thursday, including the largest blaze in state history that the utility provider Xcel Energy said its equipment appeared to have sparked.

The historic Smokehouse Creek fire is still just 16 percent contained. Multiple fires have now destroyed as many as 500 buildings and that number is expected to grow. People in the town of Canadian are now helping neighbors sift through the ashes of what was once their homes.

400 to 500 structures have been destroyed. The Texas A&M Forest Service said it was only 5% contained earlier Friday. Still, a long way to go in putting it out and a long road of recovery ahead. NBC 5’s Vince Sims takes a look at how north Texans are helping in the fight.