March 19, 2025
A Texas lawmaker is laying the groundwork to create a statewide system that connects all first responders and government agencies to the same network. The proposal comes as a possible solution to fix communication issues the agencies have encountered during …
March 3, 2025
Critical to extreme fire conditions are expected to affect more than 2.7 million people across the Southwest, lower Great Plains and Texas, including the oil-rich Permian Basin. A large low-pressure system is forecast to move across the central Great Plains, …
February 28, 2025
A year after devastating wildfires engulfed the Panhandle, killing three people and burning millions of acres, Texas lawmakers have filed a slate of legislation aimed at mitigating the risks and damage of future blazes. Three Republicans — state Sen. Kevin …
February 27, 2025
Past the terracotta canyons and sloping hills in the Texas Panhandle is a colorful, small town center. A vibrant mural of the town’s name greets visitors, the yellow and blue paint from a historic motel can be seen in the …
June 19, 2024
Wildfires in Canada that burned continuously for over a year. Floods that brought Dubai to a standstill. Deadly heat blanketing the streets of New Delhi. The first half of 2024 has laid bare the catastrophic extremes that now characterize the …
May 28, 2024
LUBBOCK — Spring rains have revived much of the green grass covering stretches of plains in the Texas Panhandle — the same land that, just three months ago, was black from fire and ash after wildfires burned more than 1 …
May 13, 2024
LUBBOCK — A decayed utility pole that broke, causing power wires to fall on dry grass in the Texas Panhandle, sparked the state’s largest wildfire in history, a Texas House committee confirmed Wednesday. And other poorly maintained power equipment sparked …
April 11, 2024
It’s shaping up to be a long wildfire season, with Texas already seeing its largest blaze in recorded history and firefighters becoming overwhelmed with recent blazes in Virginia. Just in the first three months of the year, more than 2,669 …
March 20, 2024
LUBBOCK — There are burned spots on Jay O’Brien’s ranch outside Stinnett that predate the Smokehouse Creek fire. Over the last several months, small fires — ones that weren’t pushed by strong winds or grew out of control — scarred …
March 18, 2024
LUBBOCK — Firefighters have completely contained the Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County after a nearly three-week battle with what quickly became the largest wildfire in Texas history. That inferno and a series of other wildfires killed at least two …