A top state fire official says the changing landscape of Texas, driven by millions of new residents and the spread of exurbia, has coincided with an unprecedented wave of large wildfires that are occurring more regularly.
Texas A&M Forest Service Fire Chief Mark Stanford says a nexus of drought, consistent development and profound changes in the way Texas land is used has pushed the state into a new era of firefighting.
He says wildfires today are more threatening and damaging.
There were 157,000 wildfires in Texas over a nine-year period ending in 2014, and nearly 80 percent of those fires raged within two miles of a community.
The latest example was the Hidden Pines fire this month in Bastrop County that burned nearly 5,000 acres and destroyed 64 homes.
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