Wildfires burn more than 14,000 acres near Canyon, Texas

Añadido: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Wind-driven wildfires are ripping across the Texas Panhandle tonight.

[00:00:04]Firefighters are working around the clock to get the upper hand. Jason Allen joins us from just south of Amarillo in hard-hit Canyon, Texas.

[00:00:14]Powerful winds fueled wildfires that raced through the Texas Panhandle. Here in Canyon, lightning sparked a fire that exploded to more than 17,000 acres, leaving homes in ashes and burned vehicles beyond recognition.

[00:00:26]>> It blew up into something you couldn't believe. Craig Lotus was among the evacuees who helped his family and elderly neighbors escape to safety, then stayed up through the night putting out spot fires as they sparked up around his neighborhood. We were running for our life. How fast was this fire moving toward you?

[00:00:43]>> Fast.

[00:00:44]Fast. These things move at lightning speed. Firefighters from across the region rushed to Canyon, containing 40% of the fire before afternoon winds started fueling it again. The problem with these grass fires is they will create their own weather patterns. So, they'll create their own winds. So, it's really hard for us to really determine what's going to happen. We Jason Love is with the Amarillo Fire Department. How far out ahead of the fire are you having to focus to make sure the people are out of the way? We're talking miles. The problem with these kind of fires is you can't really get in front of them to stop them. We have measured these winds gusting to close to 40 miles per hour.

[00:01:19]Firefighters are battling more than two dozen of these fires in the region in Texas and also New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas. Jason Allen, CBS News in Canyon, Texas.

[00:01:30]It's so terrifying and it's happening right here in the Lone Star State, which makes me wonder, Dave, are we going to feel any of the impacts from those winds there because they are so strong? Wind is the ingredient that gets wildfire out of control. We had quite a breezy day today.