The raging Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas continues to burn as area farmers and ranchers take stock of the tremendous loss of livestock and land they now face.
Shane Pennington, 56, is a ranch manager near Canadian, Texas, who told CNN about the devastating loss of dozens and dozens of cattle from a herd he has worked hard to farm over the years.
He said that upon returning to the ranch after the fire that killed two people, he and his staff found about 50 dead cattle, while some lactating cows desperately searched for their missing calves.
“We didn’t find many calves,” he said. “So I know they burned.”
The flames that engulfed the ranch just days ago decimated the Pennington herd and caused horrific injuries to some of the cows that did not die.
Ranch Manager Shane Pennington shared the devastating aftermath of the Smokehouse Creek Fire. More than 50 members of his pack have died and more are expected to be lost to the effects of the flames.
Dead cows are still being found on properties across Texas, days after the worst of the Smokehouse Creek Fire devastated the area.
Some of the animals’ tails were burned, others were blinded by the flames.
“It just burned all their hair off,” he said. ‘Their feet are falling off. Their hooves are bloody.
Pennington pointed to a calf whose legs were burned and told the reporter he wasn’t sure the baby animal would survive.
“It’s extremely difficult to see them suffer. I’ve raised some of them since they were babies,” she said. “It’s just difficult.”
When he saw the fire moving toward the ranch last week, he said he felt no fear.
‘I was not afraid. He was angrier, I guess. “Twenty years of dealing with this and it could all disappear,” she stated.
“I wasn’t really scared about the house, I thought everything would probably be okay.” He was more concerned about the cattle.’
He said that when he made the decision to evacuate the ranch, he felt he “hadn’t done enough” to save his herd.
He explained that despite his desperate attempt to save as many cows as possible, ‘he didn’t have time and the way he was coming, there was nowhere to go with them.’
Farmers and those in the broader agriculture industry say the wildfire, which has burned more than a million acres of land and counting, will continue to impact the livestock industry for years.
As Pennington explained, it takes years to cultivate a solid herd and traumatized cows often fail to reproduce.
“Your job is to keep them alive,” he said. A job that became exponentially more difficult due to the devastating consequences of the fire.
“It’s going to hurt the business a lot.”
“It’s extremely difficult to watch them suffer. I’ve raised some of them since they were babies,” Pennington said of his flock. “It’s just difficult”
One person has been confirmed dead and dozens of cattle have also died, as devastating video footage shows cattle burned to death following wildfires ravaging Texas.
Horrifying clips show cattle fleeing in their herds to escape the smoke and flames.
Devastating videos show cattle burned alive after wildfires ravage Texas
Firefighters from the Flower Mound Fire Department help contain a wildfire in the Texas Panhandle region.
“Houses have been burned in almost every direction,” Hemphill County Judge Lisa Johnson told local newspaper The Canadian Record.
Aerial image shows damage after Texas wildfires
Wildfires raging in the Texas Panhandle have led to evacuations, power outages and the temporary closure of a nuclear weapons facility.
Last week, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties in his state experiencing the impact of the out-of-control flames.
“Texans are urged to limit activities that could generate sparks and take precautions to keep their loved ones safe,” Abbott said.
More than 5,400 people in Texas were without power for a day last week as lines were knocked out due to fire damage.
The Pantex plant, the country’s main facility that assembles and dismantles the US nuclear arsenal, evacuated most of its staff Tuesday night.
However, the next morning, Pantex announced that the facility was “open for normal day shift operations” and that all staff were required to report to work according to their assigned schedule.