Texas battles ‘catastrophic’ wildfire

The fires destroyed hundreds of homes, having been fanned by dry winds from a tropical depression which hit the southern US at the weekend, exacerbating a severe drought that has left Central Texas tinder dry this summer.

The worst blaze was reportedly 10 kilometres wide and 25 kilometres long, prompting mass evacuations as weather forecasts suggested the situation would get worse before it gets better.

"There will be more flare-ups with the cool air," said a spokeswoman for the Texas Forest Service (TFS), referring to a predicted drop in temperatures later this week.

Over the weekend, firefighters responded to 63 blazes that have burned approximately 32,936 acres, according to local officials.

Perry, who had been campaigning in South Carolina ahead of a major debate on Wednesday night among Republican candidates seeking the 2012 nomination, flew home as television pictures showed smoke and flames engulfing his state.

Officials have ruled out arson as the cause of the fires, with blame instead being attributed to Tropical Depression Lee, which was graded as a more serious tropical storm when it came ashore in southern Louisiana early Sunday.

In Bastrop county, scene of the biggest Texas fire, officials said at least 300 homes had already been destroyed.

"We're not fighting this fire at this point. We're just evacuating people," assistant fire chief Rod Stradling told local media.

Mark Stanford, the TFS fire chief, described the fires as "catastrophic."

"It's a major natural disaster," he told The Austin American-Statesman newspaper, as new fires hit Bastrop, Travis, Henderson, Limestone, Caldwell and Colorado counties.

A TFS official told Fox News that the situation was "unprecedented."

"These fires are moving extremely fast. Citizens need to go at the first sign of smoke or flame," Justice Jones said.

In East Texas, a fast-moving fire is believed to have killed a 20-year-old woman and her child who failed to get out of their trailer home fast enough.

Gregg County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano told reporters the victims were found dead near Gladewater, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of Fort Worth.

Since the beginning of the wildfire season, Texas has dealt with over 20,900 fires that have destroyed more than 1,000 homes and burned 3.6 million acres, according to local and state officials.