When Miami, Texas, cattle rancher Ryan McCoy realized a wildfire was going to threaten his ranch, he did all he could to prepare for the fire and try to save the ranch.
"You can prepare physically for fires, we've dealt with them before, but this one was way bigger than expected, and there's literally no way to prepare emotionally," McCoy, who is also a volunteer firefighter, told DTN. "This is our livelihood. We've worked for the cattle and our ranches our whole lives. To see it gone so fast is so hard."
The wildfire started Monday, Feb. 26, going from the southwest to the northeast and stayed about a mile from the McCoy ranch border. On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the wind changed, and the 80-mile-long fire started coming toward the McCoys' ranch.
"We did prepare what we could on Tuesday. We used a tractor and plow to plow a 60-foot-wide fire break with hopes it wouldn't jump," he said. "Thankfully, we saved our homes and structures from the fires, but we lost several sections of grass and many cattle from the fire, plus some who had to be euthanized."
McCoy said they expect more cows to be euthanized in the months to come due to smoke damage. They have shipped some cattle to market to salvage some value instead of euthanizing. The infrastructure is also an extreme loss with fences and water tanks needing to be repaired before cattle could be turned back out once grass starts growing again.
"We've watched our life's work gone in the past seven days. The bad part is we've lost collateral and assets. How do you rebuild when you don't have anything?" he said. "Even if we can rebuild our herd, we are looking at seven to eight years of lost income before we can see a gain. It really is devastating."
FIRE HIT HARD
The small, close-knit ranching community of Miami and other nearby Texas Panhandle towns suffered significant loss. Livestock, buildings, equipment, homes, and pastureland have all been affected.
In Roberts County, people hit by the wildfires are working to recover from the wildfire impact by strongly supporting each other.
"It has hit us hard," Nancy Gill, from Miami, Texas, told DTN last Wednesday. "Right now, we are just trying to assess the damage, continue to fight fires and help the community."
"Everyone is extremely exhausted and trying to wrap their minds around everything," said Gill, whose family ranches in the fire area northeast of Amarillo.
While Gill's family didn't lose any buildings, they have several neighbors who have lost homes, barns, equipment, vehicles, hay, feed, tack and more.
"I don't think people understand the damage, and there are still multiple live fires," she said. "Producers are assessing the damage and trying to navigate where to move cattle. The amount of support we have received statewide has been unbelievable."
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
Panhandle farmer Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, who also writes in the Our Rural Roots blog for DTN/Progressive Farmer, shared how the fire affected her family. "While the fire was too close for comfort for us, resulting in us having to get cows loaded and out of a pasture surrounded by flames and an evacuation order for our house, all of our land and animals were spared. So many others were not as fortunate."
She added how much help they've been getting. "The phone rang off the hook. People wanted to know how they could help. They offered houses and pasture and hay. Some calls came from the town next door and some from several hours away. Friends offered to come get our kids, our horses, our laundry. Everyone prayed.
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