AUSTIN, Texas — Wildfires fueled by dry conditions and gusting winds burned in a few Southern states Thursday, forcing evacuations in Texas and prompting Florida officials to close part of a major highway with spring break in high gear.
A wildfire in Sam Houston National Forest near Houston prompted the evacuation of about 900 homes and closed schools. The National Weather Service issued elevated fire warnings around the nation’s fourth-largest city.
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The fire, which started Wednesday, had burned about 3.1 square miles (8 square kilometers) and was only about 10% contained Thursday morning, the Texas A&M Forest Service said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or property damage, but the Cleveland Independent School District, which has about 12,000 students, canceled classes as a precaution.
Firefighters and law enforcement “did an such unbelievable job yesterday in protecting homes, animals, livestock and people. We’ve lost basically nothing, which is hard to believe,” the county’s top elected official, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough, said.
However, he said, expected wind gusts Thursday along with a drop in humidity could make the situation disastrous.
“We’re asking the people who evacuated last night to stay still away from their homes,” Keough said.
Florida fires
In the Florida Keys, a large brush fire that began Tuesday caused authorities to close one of the two roads leading in and out of the island chain, and intermittently shut down U.S. 1 so fire crews could move equipment.
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Spring break is in full swing in Florida, and U.S. 1 is the major thoroughfare that connects the mainland to the islands. It is also a heavily traveled road for people who live on the mainland and work at many of the hotels and restaurants in Key Largo and beyond.
Arkansas blazes
In Arkansas, crews responded to more than 50 fires Wednesday that were fueled by high winds.
The fires closed several highways, including a portion of Interstate 530 southeast of Little Rock due to heavy smoke.
Flames damaged structures in several cities, including Little Rock. The roof collapsed at St. Joseph’s, a 115-year-old building in North Little Rock that once served as an orphanage and is now the home of a nonprofit that provides urban farming resources.
What’s causing the fires?
The South has experienced recent cold and dry conditions, followed by gusting winds, that have fanned the flames.
Texas has seen fire hazards range from the far northern Panhandle, where ground vegetation froze and dried out, and push hundreds of miles east to the coast.
South Florida has seen every little rainfall over the past few weeks. The rainy season doesn’t start until sometime around mid-May. Another cold front with dry air is expected to push through South Florida on Thursday night, said meteorologist Donal Harrigan with the National Weather Service in Miami.
Red Flag warnings
The weather service issued Red Flag warnings for fire conditions in east Texas and South Florida and could extend them for several days.
Red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service when conditions are ripe for fires. In southeast Texas, weather service officials predicted wind gusts of 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers per hour), combined with humidity as low as 18%. That combination will continue to dry out vegetation.