WHILE TEXAS BURNED:... Republican Governor Abbott Absent From Raging Wildfires Upstate......He's Been Hanging With Trump On The Mexican Border...Democrat Pres. Biden Promises Federal Aid...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...A week into the uphill battle up in the Texas panhandle, ragged, rural firefighters are back trying to tamp down a stubborn blaze that has left two dead, a monstrous amount of acreage seared and piles of bloated dead cattle on toasted range land. As of this windy morning on the fire front, there is no request for federal aid from Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire rages on.

It's an annoying, unwanted headache for Abbott, who spent a portion of last week along the Mexican border damning immigrant crossings with Donald J. Trump while a large chunk of far North Texas burned to the ground. Photos are as excitable as a glass bowl of potato salad falling off a refrigerator shelf.

Look out, Texas.

 From Time.com: [ The wildfires led to Abbott issuing a state of disaster declaration in 60 counties and have resulted in forced evacuations in a number of towns. The state’s fire preparedness level was raised to three amid concerns that wildfire activity will continue to increase.

The fires have been dubbed the second largest wildfires in U.S. history, and the worst wildfires to have ever hit Texas. The 140 blazes have collectively burned through 1,260,725 acres of land, with at least 12 fires breaking out in neighboring Oklahoma. 

The largest fire - which broke out last week at Smokehouse Creek, north of Amarillo - is only 5% contained. While authorities remain unsure about the cause of the fires, its ferocity has been aided by strong winds and dry grass paired with warm temperatures. Abbott called on the Texas Division of Emergency Management to bring forward additional emergency response efforts to support local firefighters on Tuesday. The efforts continue.

He called on Texans to "to limit activities that could create sparks and take precautions to keep their loved ones safe." 

The blaze also led to the shutdown of a nuclear weapons facility at Pantex last Tuesday night, before resuming "normal day shift operations" on Wednesday morning, according to Pantex’s post on X (formerly Twitter). ]

Proud Abbott, however, always at odds with the federal government, could not bring himself to ask the government for help. Ranchers say they have lost millions, homes and barns included. Area firemen, most coming from volunteer departments, say they are in need of quick aid. Nothing has come from Abbott, who did declare the fires a "Texas disaster" and allowed state agencies to do their best. 

Addressing the fires while in Brownville last Thursday, President Joe Biden said, "When disasters strike, there is no red state or blue state where I come from. There are just communities and families looking for help. (Texas has received $13 billion in relief funding throughout his presidency).

It'll be interesting if Abbott chooses to either go it all alone on the fires, or to finally ask the Biden White House for aid.

That would be a sort of not-quite-Abbott bow to the president, a Democrat...

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