Firefighting agencies gear up for likely 'devastating' wildfire season

‘Tis the season — not for holiday greetings, but for natural disasters that are almost replacing tornadoes as a scourge on the Texas Panhandle. March is the unofficial beginning of wildfire season, when spring winds combine with low humidity that can turn thousands of acres into a tinderbox. Tuesday was the one-year anniversary of the tragic wildfires that consumed 480,000 acres in the eastern and northeastern Panhandle. The fires took the lives of four, three trying to rescue cattle on the Franklin Ranch near McLean, and the other trying to reach home and his wife along Highway 305 near Higgins. More than 1,500 cattle were killed. For veteran firefighters and emergency managers, this season has an ominous feel, that factors have come together to make 2018 a near perfect storm for fires. –Amarillo Globe-News Read more…