Latest / EM Morning Brief / Ross Fire burns 78 square miles in North Texas as FEMA approves fire grant; national preparedness stays at Level 5 with 86 uncontained large fire

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Ross Fire burns 78 square miles in North Texas as FEMA approves fire grant; national preparedness stays at Level 5 with 86 uncontained large fire · EM Morning Brief

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  Cedric: Good morning, I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief for Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
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  Cedric: The national wildfire system remains at Preparedness Level 5, the highest tier.
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  Cedric: The most recent national situation report counts 86 uncontained large fires and 145 active incidents, with 22,183 personnel committed, along with 440 crews, 1,176 engines, and 182 helicopters.
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  Cedric: Year to date, 51,063 fires have burned 7,831,676 acres, running 166 percent of the ten year average for acres burned.
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  Cedric: Nineteen complex incident management teams are assigned, and 212 fireline personnel from Australia and New Zealand are supporting the Northwest and Great Basin.
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  Cedric: Federal fire managers report an incident support crewmember died of a medical emergency on August 23 while assigned to the Frijoles incident in New Mexico.
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  Cedric: The lead incident this morning is the Ross Fire in North Texas, which has burned more than 78 square miles across Palo Pinto and Jack counties at 8 percent containment.
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  Cedric: Mandatory evacuations are in effect in southern Jack County, an evacuation center is open in Jacksboro, and FEMA has approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant.
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  Cedric: Three federal declarations landed Monday: a major disaster declaration for Indiana covering the August 11 storm and tornado outbreak, an emergency declaration for Hawaii tied to Tropical Cyclone Lala, and the Texas fire grant.
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  Cedric: Dangerous heat is the second national driver.
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  Cedric: Extreme Heat Warnings run into the weekend across southern Arizona, southern Nevada, and inland Southern California, with afternoon highs from 107 to 118 degrees and overnight lows near 90.
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  Cedric: Cooling centers are activated in Clark County, Nevada and across California.
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  Cedric: On the cyber side, CISA added a Gitea code injection flaw to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog Monday with a federal remediation deadline of Friday, August 28, and published seven new industrial control system advisories the same day.
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  Cedric: The National Terrorism Advisory System shows no current advisories.
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  Cedric: Public health teams in Iowa and Illinois are working active measles investigations.
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  Cedric: Let's run through the states.
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  Cedric: Texas: The Ross Fire in Palo Pinto and Jack counties has burned more than 78 square miles since igniting Monday afternoon and stands at 8 percent containment.
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  Cedric: Roughly 630 homes evacuated overnight, mandatory evacuations remain in place in southern Jack County, and an evacuation center is operating in Jacksboro.
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  Cedric: At least five structures are destroyed, and multiple buildings are lost at a Scouting America camp where no campers were present.
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  Cedric: Schools in the fire area have canceled classes.
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  Cedric: The Texas Division of Emergency Management has surged forest service crews and heavy equipment, firefighting aircraft, state medical teams, National Guard helicopters, state troopers, and game wardens.
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  Cedric: A Heat Advisory covers North and Central Texas through this evening.
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  Cedric: Washington: Washington carries the heaviest fire load in the country.
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  Cedric: The Little Giant Fire in Chelan and Okanogan counties is 146,042 acres at 21 percent containment with 2,146 personnel and 26 structures lost.
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  Cedric: Chelan County remains under a county state of emergency with Level 1, 2, and 3 evacuation zones posted along the Chiwawa River, both shores of Lake Chelan, and the Entiat Valley.
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  Cedric: The Sinlahekin Fire near Tonasket is 155,227 acres at 53 percent containment with 30 structures lost.
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  Cedric: The Three Queens Fire east of Snoqualmie Pass is 6,968 acres at 13 percent containment with Level 3, 2, and 1 evacuations issued by the Kittitas County Sheriff.
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  Cedric: In better news, Yakima Valley Emergency Management dropped all evacuation levels on the Colwash Fire yesterday afternoon.
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  Cedric: A Fire Weather Watch covers the Okanogan Valley and Waterville Plateau into Thursday evening.
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  Cedric: Hawaii: The President approved Governor Green's request for a federal emergency declaration following Tropical Cyclone Lala, authorizing direct federal assistance under Category B public assistance at 75 percent federal cost share for Hawaii County, Maui County, and Honolulu.
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  Cedric: State requests include mortuary response personnel for human remains displaced by a slope failure at Naalehu Cemetery, large capacity generators, and federal experts to stand up temporary microgrids.
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  Cedric: Hawaiian Electric reports roughly 4,330 Hawaii Island customers still without power, with about 50 mutual aid workers from Southern California Edison working in Puna and Waimea.
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  Cedric: State transportation officials have completed rebuilding the washed out sections of Route 11 in Kau.
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  Cedric: A precautionary boil water notice remains active for Waiohinu and Naalehu.
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  Cedric: Kilauea ended episode 54 of its summit eruption Tuesday evening after nine hours of fountaining.
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  Cedric: California: Cal OES prepositioned strike teams across Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties ahead of elevated fire weather, including engines, water tenders, hand crews, helicopters, and dozers.
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  Cedric: The new Wood Fire near Perris in Riverside County is 60 acres at 25 percent containment with evacuation orders for two zones and warnings for six more.
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  Cedric: The Timber Fire on the Los Padres National Forest is 16,368 acres at 27 percent containment after crossing the Ventana Creek drainage.
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  Cedric: Red Flag Warnings cover the southwest California interior mountains through Friday afternoon and Modoc County through this evening.
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  Cedric: Extreme Heat Warnings run through Friday for San Diego County valleys and mountains and the Mojave Desert, and Cal OES has published a statewide cooling center roster.
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  Cedric: Oregon: The McCully Fire in Baker County grew 3,114 acres in a single operational period to 4,315 acres and remains at zero containment with 180 personnel assigned.
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  Cedric: The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest issued a new closure order covering the McCully and North Pole fires.
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  Cedric: The Rowe Creek Complex in Wheeler and Crook counties is 373,981 acres at 91 percent containment with 1,276 personnel, running overnight mop up with thermal imaging and three drone modules flying infrared.
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  Cedric: A Red Flag Warning covers the Klamath Basin and south central Oregon desert through this evening, with a Fire Weather Watch following Thursday.
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  Cedric: Nevada: A Great Basin incident management team has assumed command of the Hawk Fire five miles north of Reno, now 15,051 acres at 27 percent containment with 816 personnel, 81 engines, and 10 helicopters.
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  Cedric: Washoe County reports significant damage to homes and community structures, with damage assessment ongoing and the destroyed or damaged count expected to rise.
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  Cedric: A railway line and a communication tower have been affected, and area and road closures remain southbound off U.S.
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  Cedric: 395.
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  Cedric: The Regional Emergency Operations Center is holding a daily 2 p.m.
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  Cedric: press briefing.
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  Cedric: Statewide, an Extreme Heat Warning runs through Friday with Las Vegas Valley highs of 108 to 112 and Colorado River Valley highs of 115 to 118.
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  Cedric: Clark County has cooling stations activated at recreation centers and libraries.
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  Cedric: Colorado: Burn scar flooding is the operational story.
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  Cedric: Emergency management observed six to twelve inches of water and debris flowing down North Creek in Pueblo County Tuesday afternoon, prompting Flash Flood Warnings for the Aspen Acres burn scars and life threatening debris flow through several drainages.
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  Cedric: The National Weather Service in Pueblo has issued a new Flash Flood Watch for the Aspen Acres burn scar from noon through this evening, naming Beulah, San Isabel, and Highways 165 and 78.
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  Cedric: Separately, the Hinsdale County Sheriff downgraded or rescinded evacuation statuses for eight zones on the Elk Fire, now 7,257 acres at 33 percent containment.
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  Cedric: Montana: The Sand Creek Fire five miles east of Wisdom in Beaverhead County is 33,088 acres at 14 percent containment with 487 personnel, and evacuations plus area, road, and trail closures remain in effect with numerous structures and communication infrastructure
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  Cedric: threatened.
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  Cedric: Command transfers between Northern Rockies teams today.
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  Cedric: The Camp Creek Fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness grew past 6,500 acres within 48 hours and now stands at 7,240 acres at zero containment, with command transferring to a Type 3 organization this morning and the fire area closed
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  Cedric: to the public.
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  Cedric: We have more to cover this morning, but first, a quick word from our sponsors.
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  Cedric: Thanks for supporting our sponsors who help make EM Morning Brief possible.
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  Cedric: Now, back to this morning’s updates.
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  Cedric: Idaho: The lightning caused Flint Fire 45 miles southwest of Nampa in Owyhee County is a new large incident at 750 acres and zero containment, with residences threatened.
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  Cedric: The Owyhee County Sheriff has a Level 3 GO evacuation for Triangle and a Level 2 SET for Silver City.
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  Cedric: The Crooked Fire 15 miles east of Idaho City is 3,164 acres at zero containment with structures and communication infrastructure threatened under an expanded closure order.
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  Cedric: A Red Flag Warning covers the Palouse, Nez Perce Reservation, and Hells Canyon this afternoon.
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  Cedric: Indiana: The President approved a major disaster declaration Monday for the severe storms, straight line winds, tornadoes, and flooding that began August 11.
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  Cedric: Individual Assistance is designated for 21 counties, and Public Assistance for 11 of those, including Marion, Hamilton, Lake, and Porter.
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  Cedric: Survivors in designated counties can now register for federal individual assistance.
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  Cedric: Arizona: Extreme Heat Warnings cover the Phoenix metro, Tucson, Yuma, Pinal County, and Gila County through Saturday evening, with highs of 108 to 117 and Major to Extreme heat risk.
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  Cedric: Maricopa County residents are directed to 2-1-1 for cooling centers and transportation.
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  Cedric: A flash flood warning on the Paria River in Coconino County was cancelled Tuesday morning after floodwaters receded at Lees Ferry.
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  Cedric: New Mexico: The Frijoles Fire on the Santa Fe National Forest is 15,226 acres at 52 percent containment with 824 personnel.
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  Cedric: Cundiyo, Cerro Pinon, and the Borrego Mesa area remain in SET status, Cordova and Nambe Pueblo Lake remain READY, and NM 503 is closed between County Road 98 and State Road 76.
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  Cedric: Utah: The Tom Creek Fire in the Simpson Mountains grew significantly to 3,860 acres.
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  Cedric: The evacuation status for Terra was dropped from SET to READY.
• 11:33
  Cedric: The Slough Canyon Fire on Uintah and Ouray tribal lands is 2,898 acres at zero containment with structures threatened and ground engagement still unsafe.
• 11:43
  Cedric: Alaska: The state emergency operations center remains activated at Level 3 for the Tok wildland fire.
• 11:50
  Cedric: The Mukluk Fire is 7,260 acres at 29 percent containment with about 350 personnel, and the Level 3 GO evacuation has been reduced to properties within the fire footprint as crews work to repopulate the Midnight Sun Zone.
• 12:05
  Cedric: Great Sitkin volcano remains at Watch and Orange.
• 12:09
  Cedric: Iowa: State health officials confirm 17 measles cases with evidence of person to person spread across Bloomfield, Ottumwa, Clive, and Des Moines.
• 12:19
  Cedric: A new potential exposure location has been added in Davis County, and anyone exposed is told to call ahead rather than walk into a clinic or emergency department.
• 12:29
  Cedric: Illinois: The Kane County Health Department confirmed a measles case in an unvaccinated resident and identified two exposure sites: Kaneland High School in Maple Park on August 18 and a pediatric clinic in South Elgin on August 21.
• 12:45
  Cedric: The high school moved to remote learning Tuesday and returns to in person instruction today.
• 12:50
  Cedric: Unprotected contacts are directed to quarantine for 21 days.
• 12:55
  Cedric: Tennessee: Memphis Light, Gas and Water is still restoring power after Saturday night storms with winds above 70 miles per hour, with 24,702 customers out and restoration expected to run through Thursday night.
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  Cedric: Memphis-Shelby County Schools has 10 campuses closed today.
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  Cedric: Alabama: Governor Ivey announced activation of a statewide emergency notification system delivering flood and disaster alerts by cell phone, landline, and local broadcast, with residents opting in through the state emergency management agency.
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  Cedric: Separately, construction equipment on a truck struck the County Road 87 bridge over Interstate 65 in Shelby County Tuesday, dropping concrete onto vehicles below, critically injuring one person, and closing the interstate with a four mile backup.
• 13:46
  Cedric: Mississippi: State health officials issued a system wide boil water alert for the Town of Richton in Perry County affecting all 571 connections after pressure loss from line breaks.
• 13:58
  Cedric: Additional alerts cover about 201 customers on the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District system in Rankin County and the Barrontown Utility Association in Forrest County.
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  Cedric: New York: The Oswego County Health Department issued a boil water order for the southwest quadrant of the city of Oswego after a water main break early Tuesday, including a senior living facility on Sunrise Drive.
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  Cedric: The order is expected to remain in effect until at least Thursday pending sampling results.
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  Cedric: Minnesota: Severe storms crossed northeastern Minnesota and the Twin Ports Tuesday evening, producing 60 mile per hour gusts and quarter size hail near Hibbing and leaving flooding, storm damage, and hundreds of customers without power.
• 14:45
  Cedric: Oklahoma: The evacuation order for the town of Velma in Stephens County has been lifted after a grassfire burned about 280 acres.
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  Cedric: The sheriff's office reports no structures destroyed and no injuries, with 22 agencies responding.
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  Cedric: All other states and territories have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
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  Cedric: That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
• 15:09
  Cedric: New episodes drop Monday through Friday in the 5:00 AM hour P.T., so the day starts with clarity instead of catch-up.
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  Cedric: EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.
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  Cedric: Stay Safe.