Texas fire live updates: Dry weather and strong winds threatened to intensify state’s largest ever wildfire

The Smokehouse Creek fire is now the largest in state history as it burns 1,078,086 acres alone, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. It is just 15 per cent contained as of Saturday.

The fires have killed at least two people.

Joyce Blankenship, 83, was found dead in her destroyed Hutchinson County home, officials said.

On Thursday it was confirmed that a second woman – Cindy Owens – had succumbed to her injuries after getting out of her truck and being severely burned.

See maps of these deadly blazes:

Joyce Blankenship, 83, was found dead in her Stinnett, Texas home on Wednesday as wildfires ravaged the region. She was a beloved mother, grandmother and former substitute teacher, say her relatives.

More than a dozen other homes in her town were destroyed by the fires, which now include the largest blaze in state history: the Smokehouse Creek fire, burning one million acres alone in the Texas Panhandle.

Blankenship’s grandson, Lee Quesada, told the Associated Press that local deputies told his uncle they had found her remains in her burned home on Wednesday.

On Thursday it was confirmed that a second woman – Cindy Owens – had succumbed to her injuries after getting out of her truck and being severely burned.

The Smokehouse Creek fire is the largest in state history, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

It is just 15 per cent contained after five days, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service on Saturday.

Here’s a map where the fires are raging:

The former vice president called for action as The Smokehouse Creek Fire continues to rage in Texas and a blizzard pummels northern California.

“Today from Truckee to Texas, communities are coming face-to-face with the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. 100mph winds and 12’ of snow are battering the Sierra Nevada while crews battle the largest wildfire in Texas history. We owe it to our our communities, neighbors, friends, and family to take action now to prevent further climate chaos.”

A Red Flag Warning remains in effect until 7pmCST on Saturday for critical fire weather conditions as the fires continue in the Texas panhandle.

Video captured cattle running from the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which has ravaged over a million acres in the Texas Panhandle.

Three scientists told Reuters that February is on track to have the highest global average temperature ever recorded for that month, thanks to climate change and the warming in the Eastern Pacific Ocean known as El Nino.

The data has not yet been finalised, but if confirmed, this would mean it would be the ninth consecutive monthly temperature record to be broken,

The final figures of February will be released on 14 March by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).