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CURATED TEXAS HISTORICAL RECORD

Smokehouse Creek Fire — 2024

The Smokehouse Creek Fire began near Stinnett during a period of extreme Panhandle fire weather and grew into the largest wildfire documented in Texas history. A later Texas A&M Forest Service account records 1,054,153 acres burned.

Final reported area1,054,153 acresTexas A&M Forest Service retrospective figure
Texas rankLargest recordedLargest wildfire in Texas history
Origin areaNear StinnettTexas Panhandle
Fire periodFeb–Mar 2024Completed historical incident
GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE

Where this record is anchored

Reference points identify Stinnett and the Hutchinson County area. They are not the official final perimeter and do not indicate current fire conditions.

WHY THIS EVENT MATTERS

A defining Texas disaster record

The fire’s unprecedented scale makes it a central Texas wildfire record. It also shows why active-incident acreage can change as mapping improves and why a finished historical record should identify the source and review date for final figures.

Historical—not currentThis page preserves a completed event. For present conditions, return to the statewide watch and current official sources.View current Texas conditions
VERIFIED EVENT SEQUENCE

What happened

Condensed from the official records linked below.

  1. Fire begins

    The incident originated near Stinnett in the Texas Panhandle.

  2. Record-scale growth

    Texas A&M Forest Service described the actively burning incident as the largest wildfire in Texas history.

  3. Incident contained

    Firefighting operations continued into March before the incident reached completed status.

  4. Retrospective acreage published

    A Texas A&M Forest Service account identified a final reported burned area of 1,054,153 acres.

EVIDENCE BOUNDARY

What this record does—and does not—show

This reference map is not the official perimeter. Preliminary acreage reported during an active wildfire can include multi-state area or later change after improved mapping; the headline acreage here uses the cited Texas retrospective figure.

OFFICIAL SOURCE LEDGER

Verify the historical record

2 official sources
Texas A&M Forest ServiceLargest wildfire in Texas history burns in the PanhandleActive-event scale and historical rankingTexas A&M Forest ServiceLaw-enforcement retrospective including final acreageOrigin area, final reported acreage, and historical ranking
Texas Hazard Watch summarizes these sources for navigation and comparison. The linked agencies remain authoritative.