AUSTIN, Texas, April 27 (UPI) -- The stubborn and destructive Possum Kingdom Lake wildfire was 90 percent contained Wednesday, the Texas Forest Service reported.
The fire, formed when four blazes merged about 80 miles west of Fort Worth, spread across almost 127,000 acres in two counties and burned 167 houses and two churches. Hundreds of firefighters have been on the scene for several weeks.
There were 17 large fires burning in the state Wednesday, covering more than 500,000 acres, the forest service said. Seven new fires were reported Tuesday.
Texas has had some of the most dangerous fire conditions in its history this spring. A long drought has left grass and scrub with little resistance to fire, and the weather has been hot, dry and windy most of the time.
Fires have burned about 1.5 million acres this year.
