Wildfire, Reagan
- When
- January 1, 10:45 AM CST to January 5, 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Reagan forecast zone
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Crop damage
- $1.3 million
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 31.366, -101.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Record high temperatures (in the mid to upper 70s), very low relative humidities, high winds, and two and a half months without measurable precipitation combined to produce a very active fire weather day. SPC issued a critical fire weather area for west Texas and southeastern New Mexico in their Day 1 Fire Weather Outlook issued early on January 1st. A grassfire spread to over 40,000 acres in Reagan and Irion counties on New Year's Day. Newspapers originally reported the cause as sparks from a transformer. Later, a fire department official in Big Lake reported that a hawk landed on power lines and burst into flames, starting the fire. Because of high winds, record high temperatures, and very low relative humidities, it took firefighters 3 days to contain the wildfire. It was extinguished a couple of days later. One firefighter sustained 2nd degree burns to his face while fighting the fire but was treated and released from a regional burn center. The fire was in mostly open country and thus only a hunting cabin was destroyed. In addition to the major fire in Reagan and Irion counties, several other small fires scorched west Texas. Both Ector and Midland counties had fire and fireworks bans in effect for the period between New Year's Eve and January 6, 2006. Several other counties also had fireworks bans in effect for the New Year's holiday. January was a dry month overall. Several other minor fires occurred throughout west Texas, including two along Interstate 20 in Stanton. Smoke from one of these fires reduced visibility on Interstate 20, causing a five car pile-up that resulted in two injuries. Another fire in Scurry county, near the Inadale Cotton Gin, burned 415 modules of cotton, each worth around $3,000. Each of the modules contains about 10 bales of cotton.Damage estimates in the above entry include all fires that burned in Texas during the month of January.