The Smokehouse Creek fire burned more than 1 million acres across the Texas Panhandle and is consistently identified by authoritative and major news sources as the largest wildfire recorded in Texas.
True
The Smokehouse Creek fire burned more than one million acres in the Texas Panhandle, becoming the largest wildfire in state history.
'Beauty from the ashes.' Texas Panhandle recovering one year after the state's largest wildfire
Source: npr.org
At a glance
Verified September 2, 2026Key Evidence
The Colorado State University Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere records the fire as having burned more than 1 million acres, or about 400,000 hectares, and calls it the largest wildfire in Texas history.
Multiple independent reports, including The New York Times, NBC News, NPR, and Texas A&M AgriLife on September 2, 2026, identify Smokehouse Creek as the largest wildfire recorded in Texas.
Later reporting confirms the event’s final scale after containment. Governing reported on March 18, 2024, that more than 1 million acres had burned and that the fire was completely contained.
The reporting
What the Evidence Shows
The Smokehouse Creek fire exceeded 1 million acres and set a Texas record for the largest wildfire in the state. The Colorado State University Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere’s satellite library identifies Smokehouse Creek as the largest fire in the 2024 Texas Panhandle wildfire event and gives the burned area as more than 1 million acres. Texas A&M AgriLife Today, NBC News, and The New York Times likewise describe it as the largest wildfire in Texas history or on record.nytimes.comnytimes.comTexas Wildfires: What We Know About the Smokehouse Creek Fire
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Primary trail
Verified Sources10
Open source