Texas Panhandle Wildfire Destroyed 225 Homes

Authorities say 225 homes were destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire in the Texas Panhandle earlier this week, a figure that’s more than double initial estimates.

Officials had previously said some 89 homes were leveled by the fire that began Sunday.

Texas A&M Forest Service spokesman Troy Duchneaux said the earlier estimate was based on an aerial survey and that the number rose once firefighters were able to enter the fire area in Fritch beginning Wednesday. He also says 143 outbuildings, such as well houses and sheds, were destroyed.

The fire was 90 percent contained Thursday.

Officials are attributing the death of one person to the fire — a man who suffered a heart attack. Flames forced the evacuation of about 2,100 people from a 4-square-mile area around Lake Meredith.