Texas Wildfire: Largest Fire in Texas History Visible from Space

A massive fire blazing across the Texas Panhandle and parts of Oklahoma this week spans nearly 1.1 million acres (1,700 square miles), making it the largest fire in Texas history. The inferno, dubbed the Smokehouse Creek Fire , is so big that it's visible from space .The imagery, which shows thermal hotspots linked to the Smokehouse Creek Fire, is what’s known as a false color visualization.This type of image displays portions of the infrared spectrum sensitive to fire activity. Although precipitation fell on Thursday, helping calm the fire, it remains only 3% contained, he says. At least one person has died, according to local media reports, in addition to destroying an unknown number of homes. The Texas Panhandle is home to roughly 85% of the state’s cattle population, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.The previous largest fire in Texas was the East Amarillo Complex fire of 2006, which engulfed 907,245 acres.