By Julia James, The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — Wildfire season has started in Texas.
Thursday morning, two sizable fires were burning in the Texas Panhandle and were both only partially contained. The Lavender fire, which started in Oldham County, had grown to 12,000 acres and was 20% contained as of 10:30 a.m., according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The 8 Ball fire, originating in Armstrong County, was 13,000 acres and 40% contained as of 9:40 a.m.
Both fires started on Tuesday in counties near Amarillo. As of Thursday, all of the Panhandle is under a red flag warning, which alerts residents a wildfire is likely to spread rapidly if started. The warning extends down to the northwestern edge of North Texas, affecting Jack, Wise, Cooke and Montague counties.
To the north, counties in Oklahoma and Kansas are impacted by the Ranger Road fire. The fire is over 280,000 acres and only 15% contained, according to Watch Duty, a wildfire tracking app.
Red flag warnings have also been issued for Friday in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.
©2026 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.