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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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Videos and photos shared across social media on Wednesday showed the devastating damage caused by wildfires burning throughout the Texas panhandle.
Widespread wildfires consuming thousands of acres began on Monday throughout the state. Authorities haven't identified the cause, according to the Associated Press, but multiple red flag warnings were in place Monday advising people against outdoor burning because of the high risk of the fires growing out of control amid abnormally high temperatures and low humidity. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has since issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties in the state.
Countless evacuations are in place, and animals also were impacted. Videos and photos revealed destroyed homes, raging fires and fleeing animals.
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"Horrible and Heartbreaking scenes showing destroyed homes in parts of Canadian, Texas from yesterday's wildfires!" social media account Live Storm Chaser shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning with a video that showed homes reduced to rubble.
One user shared photos showing that the fires were visible from a plane in the sky. The photos created an eerie orange glow outside the plane's window.
"Flying over the Texas panhandle right now," the user said. "Looks apocalyptic down there"
Another user shared video from a flight that took him over the panhandle, as well.
"Just flew over the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle," the user said. "Prayers for the town with fire on all sides!"
"I've never seen anything like this. There is an absurd wildfire in north Texas," another account posted while sharing imagery from a weather satellite that picked up the flames. "It is visible on the CIRA Fire detector on the GOES 16 weather satellite. The breadth of this can not be correct, right? That's way too big."
Another video showed the expansive damage in Fritch on Wednesday.
"Here is an idea on how Fritch, TX looks today after a devastating wildfire pushed through town," the user wrote with the video. "Upwards of 100 homes have burned and possibly more. Absolutely heartbreaking to look at."
Many people volunteered to join the Fritch Volunteer Fire Department after learning of the wildfires' vast impact.
"There's a lot of people that volunteered to come up and helped us," Chief Zeb Smith said when he appeared on Fox News' Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning. "As the sun comes up, I think we will see more people coming out trying to help."
Newsweek reached out to the Fritch Volunteer Fire Department by email for comment.
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