A new report says two people have died in Texas in the largest fire in its history, a disaster that US President Joe Biden blamed on the effects of climate change.
• Also read: USA: One dead in out-of-control fires in Texas
• Also read: The fires in Texas are still out of control
In addition to an 83-year-old grandmother who died in a house fire in the town of Stinnett, a 44-year-old woman died Thursday after she was seriously injured when the truck she was driving was engulfed in flames in Smokehouse Creek . said a Texas Department of Public Safety official quoted by several local media outlets on Friday.
The Forest Department's latest report shows that all the fires have caused a total of 509,800 hectares to go up in smoke, of which 11 have already been contained (burning but not progressing) and a dozen have been brought under control.
According to the Texas Forestry Service, five fires remain “active” in the northern part of the state. The largest outbreak, Smokehouse Creek, which had already devastated around 435,000 hectares as of Thursday, is only “5%” contained and is now also affecting parts of neighboring Oklahoma.
Turkey Track Ranch officials in the area said they lost 80 percent of their 32,000-acre property.
“We believe the loss of livestock, crops and wildlife and other infrastructure on our property and other ranches and homes in the area is unprecedented in our history,” they said in a statement quoted by ABC News.
Firefighters fear the situation will worsen over the weekend due to expected winds in a hot and dry climate.
According to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, the fire is spreading at a rate of two football fields per second.
President Biden told the press during a campaign visit to Texas to discuss immigration that 500 federal officials, along with local firefighters, were working to fight the fires.
Several cities in the United States and Canada experienced record temperatures in February, some even experiencing summer heat. According to experts, not only climate change but also the El Niño phenomenon is to blame.
“I like some of my Neanderthal friends who still think climate change doesn’t exist,” Joe Biden quipped, referring to his climate-skeptical Republican opponents.