ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Wildfires have ignited across the country this year from Southern California to New York, and above-normal fire activity is anticipated for large parts of the country this month, including in much of Texas. This fire risk comes as residents of the Panhandle are marking one year since the largest wildfire in Texas history. It consumed over a million acres. And as the Texas Newsroom's Rachel Osier Lindley reports, residents say recovery will take years.
RACHEL OSIER LINDLEY, BYLINE: Canadian is one of dozens of idyllic-looking small towns dotting the panhandle plains. Like everyone in this community of 2,200, Laurie Ezzell Brown has seen wildfires before but nothing like the Smokehouse Creek fire.
LAURIE EZZELL BROWN: Everybody I know, you know, lost something.
LINDLEY: Ezzell Brown is the editor and publisher of the Canadian Record newspaper. She's lived here most of her life.
EZZELL BROWN: It had moved so quickly and done so much damage in so little time. It was shocking to see.
LINDLEY: Two people were killed. Businesses and homes were destroyed, including 53 houses in Canadian and more on the ranches surrounding the town. Over 15,000 head of cattle died in the fire.
EZZELL BROWN: Our economy is largely based on ranching, on cattle, so it's a way of life.
LINDLEY: Around 85% of Texas' beef cattle come from the region, which has experienced drought for years.
SHANE PENNINGTON: Seatbelt.
LINDLEY: Outside of town, Shane Pennington and his wife, Tatum, climb into their white pickup truck to survey the Fields Ranch.
S PENNINGTON: It's a small place compared to a lot of them in this part of the world. It's about 8,000 acres.
LINDLEY: The Penningtons managed the ranch, where their families lived for more than 20 years.
S PENNINGTON: In this little pasture we just pulled into, it's right next to the Canadian River. This was actually - this little area here was where most of the dead cattle were that we found.
TATUM PENNINGTON: Like, when we drove down here, we had no idea what we were fixing to see. And, like, it's hard to enter down here because it was so graphic and terrible. I mean, I don't...
S PENNINGTON: Some of them were still alive...
T PENNINGTON: Yeah.
S PENNINGTON: ...Couldn't get up.
T PENNINGTON: Yeah.
S PENNINGTON: You know, and just...
T PENNINGTON: Falling - and everywhere you look, there's just dead, burned cattle and calves.
LINDLEY: They say their herd's small right now, just over 100 when it's usually three times the size. Since the fire, the Penningtons have been in recovery mode, including replacing 18 miles of fences.
S PENNINGTON: It can cost anywhere from, I mean, 15,000 to 20,000 a mile. We're thinking maybe we've got another probably 7 or 8 miles.
LINDLEY: The fire was still burning last year when Xcel Energy acknowledged one of their power lines started the fire. One year later, Xcel's facing several lawsuits. A company representative told me it's already resolved more than half of the claims it's received from landowners and said Xcel's making infrastructure improvements.
A report from the Texas legislature estimated the fire's impact could ultimately exceed $1 billion. Now the state legislatures considering increasing funding for fighting wildfires. In some rural areas like this, the fire departments are run by volunteers. After the initial shock over the damage caused by the fire, Canadian transitioned into a massive relief effort.
EZZELL BROWN: And that went on for months.
LINDLEY: Laurie Ezzell Brown says, despite the devastation around Canadian, everyone's pitched in to help, donating their time and supplies.
EZZELL BROWN: They filled up the county exhibition center, and they could have filled it up 100 more times.
LINDLEY: Mallori Wilhelm's a mother of five and the wife of a rancher. The family's rebuilding their lives in a new home after losing theirs in the fire.
MALLORI WILHELM: When you go through something like that, that's when you see, wow, people are awesome and good has come from it - beauty from ashes, I mean, truly.
LINDLEY: While some residents have moved away, most of stayed in Canadian. People say it'll take three, five, even 10 years for the region and ranching industry to recover. On the Fields Ranch, Shane Pennington says, while there may not be enough grass for his cattle right now, there is enough for another fire.
S PENNINGTON: We're awful dry right now. You know, if something kicked off, sparked off, we would burn again.
LINDLEY: After all, as Tatum Pennington says, this is the windy season.
T PENNINGTON: March always has those 60 mile-per-hour, 70 mile-per-hour sustained wind days for some reason.
LINDLEY: Something she says puts everyone on edge after what they've been through - for NPR News, I'm Rachel Osier Lindley, in Canadian, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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