Smokehouse Creek Fire (2024) — FLARE Satellite Analysis

The Smokehouse Creek Fire ignited on February 26, 2024 in the Texas panhandle and grew into the largest wildfire in Texas recorded history, burning over 1 million acres across multiple counties.

Key Statistics

• Total area burned: over 1,000,000 acres (the largest in Texas history)
• Location: Texas panhandle, Hemphill, Wheeler, and surrounding counties
• Peak spread rate: tens of thousands of acres per day driven by sustained 50+ mph winds
• Structures destroyed: hundreds of homes, barns, and outbuildings
• Livestock losses: estimated tens of thousands of cattle

FLARE Analysis

FLARE's GOES-West satellite data captured the fire's explosive growth during February 26–27, 2024 at 5-minute intervals. The synthetic fire color composite (FCOL) layer and FireScore index clearly showed the fire's northeast trajectory driven by strong Panhandle winds. The case study demonstrates FLARE's ability to track large, fast-moving grassland fires across flat terrain with minimal ground-truth anchor points.

Satellite Data Used

GOES-West geostationary satellite. Channels: Band 7 (shortwave infrared), Band 14 (longwave infrared), synthetic fire color composite (FCOL), and FireScore index. Time range: February 26–27, 2024. Update interval: 5 minutes.