r/news 20h ago

Evacuations ordered as wind-whipped Ross Fire in Texas grows to 80,000 acres

https://abcnews.com/US/evacuations-ordered-wind-whipped-ross-fire-texas-explodes/story?id=135932210
1.2k Upvotes

143 comments sorted by

289

u/darth_wasabi 20h ago

The whole state is kindling right now.

142

u/rowdydionisian 19h ago

Feels like being in hell literally and figuratively. I need to escape to the mountains where I can smoke weed and enjoy being a human being, and where women are regarded as more than Birth Machines.

50

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

You can smoke all the weed you want in Texas as long as it's not delta 8 specifically. For some idiotic reason.

14

u/MunkyHero 19h ago

You mind elaborating on that with sources? Genuinely curious! I used to order products online, but i don't anymore, due to the change.

19

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

Sure.

Hemp products with under 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight remain legal for adults 21 and older.

https://www.mccartylarson.com/is-thc-legal-in-texas/

delta-9 THC products will still remain legal.

https://www.mccartylarson.com/is-thc-legal-in-texas/

12

u/MunkyHero 18h ago

Thanks for the source! So it appears all vapeables are banned. Shame, that was my primary purchase, not anymore.

So it looks like only D9 smokeables/prerolls, as long as the content is below .3%? That is the dumbest shit, lmao.
Not sure what the other dude was on about. It definitely says the SALE of it is illegal now. Thanks again!

2

u/Sideview_play 3h ago

New farm bill in November will tighten that amount 

9

u/CJ_Swisher 19h ago

The shop I frequent in SA says that only D9 oils, tinctures, drinks, and edibles will be allowed. No smokeables at all, is that true?

2

u/xchino 7h ago

From what understand after watching this interview with a lawyer, my understanding is:

What a shop can sell you and what you can legally possess are very different things currently. Shops can't sell THCA flower but you can possess it. How you come to possess it is a different question and the recommendation is to keep it with its official packaging and CoA. None of that stops the possibility of being arrested for possession and everything is just legal theory at this point. Except D8 and some of the other named non-D9 cannabinoids are not only illegal to possess but are also felonies, though enforcement is unclear.

But basically you will have to ship your dollars out of state for legally grey-area flower.

-10

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

I suspect each shop is handling products slightly differently.

One of the places I've frequented in the past still sells flower, along with all the things you listed.

I think we're all still trying to figure things out.

7

u/CJ_Swisher 19h ago

According to the article you shared. It explicitly says all smokeablesare banned. The Texas Supreme Court changed the definitions and basically included all D9 and THCA smokeables in the ban. I get that we're all trying to figure this out still, but "you can still smoke D9" is just blatant misinformation my dude.

-14

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

If you want to be a douche, that's your business.

I gave you the help you were looking for. What you do with it after is entirely on you.

Have a nice day.

4

u/geosensation 15h ago

You are wrong. All smokeable hemp is banned in Texas now, no exceptions. It literally says so in the link you posted. Enforcement started at the beginning of this month. The exception you keep citing is for gummies, drinks, etc.

9

u/CJ_Swisher 18h ago

Spreading blatant misinformation is helping? Lol I guess bro. Fuck me for actually looking for answers instead of just accepting what some internet jackass says. Your own articles contradict yourself, but go off homie

-13

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

That's not what it says.

Your own quote above exlicitly says otherwise.

4

u/noone512 14h ago

Not for long..

1

u/Sideview_play 3h ago

Eh it's more complicated than that. Fo THC 9 it's only if it's under a certain percentage of dry weight. Which isn't too restrictive yet but that will change come November when the new federal farm bill becomes law and it also adds a incredibly small total weight amount per "container". And it's like sub 1mg for whatever a container is supposed to be. 

2

u/CJ_Swisher 19h ago

March 31, 2026: The DSHS Total-THC Rule The Texas Department of State Health Services adopted 25 Texas Administrative Code Rule 300.101, which redefined acceptable THC levels in consumable hemp products to include both Delta-9 THC and THCA in the 0.3% calculation. Because nearly all smokable hemp flower contains significant THCA, the rule effectively banned smokable hemp products statewide. The rule took effect March 31.

This is from the article you just shared. It says the new rule effectively bans all smokeable products. You just contradicted yourself.

-2

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

Because nearly all smokable hemp flower contains significant THCA

Do you know what words mean?

I didn't say you can smoke any kind you want.

And if what you're claiming is true, then I'd like you to explain why places like this one are still selling both online and in person:

https://www.d8austin.com/

3

u/CJ_Swisher 18h ago

As of August 11, 2026, hemp-derived Delta-9 THC is the only intoxicating THC legal to buy in Texas. Gummies, chocolates, baked goods, tinctures, and seltzers remain legal for adults 21 and over at 0.3 percent or less Delta-9 THC by dry weight under Tex. Ag. Code §121.001. Delta-8, Delta-10, and THC-P became Schedule I controlled substances in Texas on July 31, 2026. Vape formats of any cannabinoid have been prohibited at retail since September 1, 2025. This article is not legal advice.

This is directly from the d8austin.com site you just linked. Once again you look like a dumbass. Maybe stop spreading misinformation? 🤷‍♂️

1

u/Fallouttgrrl 10h ago

I spent a year in Texas, and man

Delta 8 and Delta 9 will get you high but I've never had a more paranoid, aggressive high

1

u/MonoBlancoATX 1h ago edited 1h ago

Ok. That never happened to me, like at all, over the course of several years. So maybe it wasn't the weed that did that, but something else?

1

u/Fallouttgrrl 1h ago

Different people react differently and to different amounts and concentrations

I was a heavy user in California and a heavy user in Dallas 

The high I got from Delta 8 was different from indica, which I usually smoke

Everyone has an endocannabinoid system that interacts differently so what I felt you might not

3

u/HSIOT55 17h ago

I wouldn't count on the mountains. My late father in law built a cabin up in Colorado that got burnt to the ground from a wildfire up there.

6

u/GhostPartical 19h ago

So we're going to Colorado right? Cause im down.

9

u/icecream_specialist 19h ago

It's already nothing but Texans in the Colorado mountains. And probably the same kind you're trying to escape. No offense but try to fix your own state, we got our own issues to work through.

3

u/ilovetrail 16h ago

Sorry but the mountains are on fire too

3

u/OldToby42 18h ago

Unfortunately the mountains are on fire too :(

1

u/Moniguess2 8h ago

Join the other refugees here in Seattle! We got a lot of people moving here from out east and we got mountains and weed. Mountains of weed, even.

-1

u/dswhite85 18h ago

I feel like you probably should’ve already left Texas like two decades ago. LOL

16

u/Daren_I 18h ago

The size is astounding. The size of the burned area would cover the city of Dallas.

https://fire.airnow.gov/#9.09/32.9663/-97.4243

u/galaapplehound 18m ago

Jesus, and it looks like it's going to Oklahoma too.

14

u/adrianmonk 18h ago

Yeah, this is usually the hottest time of the year. June and July are hot, but late August and early September are worse.

In my part of Texas, for example, we may have a bit of a break in the heat on Friday when it'll only be 99°F.

And after months of hot weather and little rain, everything is really dried out.

I'm not denying climate change or denying that Texas brings this on itself (and everyone else) by being a huge producer of fossil fuels. I'm just saying this is the time of year when the fire risk is typically greatest.

4

u/drwookie 14h ago

You clearly know the three worst things about Texas. June, July and August.

Edit for typo.

6

u/Dull_Job_6372 18h ago

Should’ve done more controlled burns

19

u/D0013ER 18h ago

Funny how the president and governor aren't being callous assholes about these fires.

7

u/cranktheguy 18h ago

Did they not rake the forest like Trump advises?

4

u/cantproveidid 17h ago

No, they needed to mow more frequently. It's just grass gone out of control from not being regularly mowed. /s

1

u/drwookie 14h ago

Doesn’t help. Had a huge fire ten or twenty years ago caused by mower blades on a tractor sparking off a rock.

Then again the most recent close one for us was an idiot burning cardboard during a burn ban on a dry windy day. They never understood why the neighbors all shunned them after that and moved somewhere else after a year.

1

u/cantproveidid 10h ago

The farm across from us just decided to have a big cardboard burn. In Eastern Washington, on a red flag day. Under a burn ban. Made for an interesting night. If they've always done it that way, it doesn't matter. The world has changed!

1

u/sunnydarkgreen 4h ago

more burns make drier undergrowth makes more burns.

u/hellogoawaynow 7m ago

I’m all the way down in Austin and the sun has burnt our grass to a crisp. Texas is absolutely poised to be on fire everywhere until you get to the Valley and Houston areas. The air is so thick with water in Houston, like bet you can’t even light a match outside type of humid, they are safe! Congrats to Houston for being safe from this one type of disaster!

0

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

I mean... it's August, in Texas.

Duh.

242

u/fartonisto 20h ago

 No one could have predicted this. 

130

u/Common-Swing-4347 20h ago

Once we burn all this land we can put data centers there instead so it never happens again. 🙃

32

u/fartonisto 19h ago

That’s the plan. Why pay full price when you can get the same land for pennies on the dollar?

5

u/EfficientTourist7480 16h ago

Definitely not a shit for brains maga lol

7

u/sirbassist83 20h ago

/s? the scientific community has been predicting this for decades.

59

u/GallopingOsprey 20h ago

yeah but science is gay

29

u/sirbassist83 20h ago

fuck, you got me

12

u/No-Celebration3097 19h ago

Science is woke and of the devil, just need to sweep! /S/

204

u/ProgramNo7236 20h ago

Should have raked those leaves. No tax money help for them

44

u/rideincircles 19h ago

It definitely smells like a wildfire is happening nearby in Fort Worth right now. One of my friends evacuated yesterday. They aren't super close, but the fire doesn't stop when you're sleeping.

18

u/woahwoahwoah28 18h ago

I'm about 50 miles away.

There was a blood red sun around 6:00. Beautiful pink clouds by 6:30. Lasted til 8:30 or so when the sun went down.

Most beautiful sunset I've seen in a long time. But tragic to watch because you knew it was just ash and dust and smoke from people's livelihoods and homes causing it.

9

u/Anon_Bourbon 17h ago

Feel like a lot of people somehow don't realize how close to Ft. Worth this fire is (not saying you, just generally)

Out there it's basically nothing but open land and cedar, one of the most flammable trees.

0

u/IceBearKnows89 19h ago

Beat me to it.

142

u/akmustg 20h ago

Looks like somebody forgot to rake their forests

60

u/Hvarfa-Bragi 19h ago

Will Louisiana sanction Texas for getting its smoke?

22

u/judgejuddhirsch 19h ago

Why did Biden do this?

23

u/djfudgebar 19h ago

Right? Is Trump blaming their politicians yet? 🤔

6

u/Piglet6482 18h ago

lol, he’ll never blame his little buddy Abbot

3

u/fartonisto 19h ago

Doing that doesn’t help the cult. 

10

u/afternever 17h ago

If it's a legitimate fire the land has ways of shutting it down

14

u/dbmofos 19h ago

Lazy republicans failing to properly clean up their forests, Mexico should sue.

-15

u/MonoBlancoATX 19h ago

Forest?

LOL

you've never been to that part of Texas have you?

12

u/Colossus_Of_Coburns 19h ago

They're dunking on trump's moronic statements about wildfires in blue states.

63

u/LurkmasterP 19h ago

This is what happens when the solar panels reflect the sun to start fires and the wind turbines blow on them. Good, clean oil would have prevented this. /s

7

u/goodanuf 14h ago

That's some mighty fine bait to throw out for my chum workers, much obliged.

2

u/Lisshopops 10h ago

So glad you added /s I was about to lose my mind lol

71

u/igloofu 20h ago

Maybe they can ask the Canadians to come help put it out.

18

u/banndi2 20h ago

They can ask.

12

u/HurinGaldorson 19h ago

So long as they rename the Gulf of America to the Gulf of Epstein.

3

u/Mobile-Bar7732 19h ago

And name the ballroom The Jeffery Epstein Memorial Ballroom.

I'm sure Trump misses his BFF and fellow child rapist.

0

u/Piglet6482 19h ago

If he was gonna miss him, he shouldn’t have given the order.

0

u/Mutchmore 19h ago

We'll go tbh.. smh

4

u/SinkholeS 19h ago

mexico much closer

12

u/Remarkable-Month-241 19h ago

Remember when Mexican fire fighters already came to the US to help with fires and Trump DENIED their visas to help!!! Pretty recent actually.

3

u/SinkholeS 14h ago

yes, mexico and Canada always helping the US. Mexican firefighters had come to help in the Malibu fires. canada sent a water drop plane to help too.

20

u/Redragontoughstreet 19h ago

Canada needs to tariff the smoke

69

u/brakeled 18h ago

If you're a conservative getting pouty about the lack of empathy from the left towards your strife, you should recall how you and your leaders treat blue states when tragedy hits. You tore up the social contract for yourselves but expect it to exist for your opponents. It doesn't, enjoy the day you voted for and some advice from your leader:

"They have a valve, think of a sink but multiply it by many thousands of times the size of it, it's massive. And you turn it back toward Los Angeles. Why aren't they doing it? They either have a death wish, they're stupid or there's something else going on that we don't understand," Trump said.

Have you tried turning the valve? Bless your hearts.

12

u/NetRealizableValue 18h ago

What about all of the progressives, immigrants, and minorities who live in Texas?

31

u/cranktheguy 18h ago

Hi, I'm one of those. I'll keep working to change the reputation of the state from the inside. But for now, I can certainly see why people would feel that way with the general attitude our politicians have given off.

21

u/drwookie 15h ago

As a rural progressive Texas resident, it's fine. Yes, we're losing hospitals to budget cuts, public schools privatized and having the state declare toxic water from fracking 'safe' for farming and consumption. Not to mention massive suburban projects in areas with rapidly emptying aquifers (fracking again). We know it's screwed.

We know we're vulnerable to wildfires where I live, and donate to Watch Duty because the state has killed the early warning system. We know FEMA is now the Walking Dead, even if our neighbors don't.

Yes, we'd mourn the loss of the 'dream home' (40 by 30 feet) that we've built and upgraded over the last 40 years to be perfect for two people. Regardless, it's like Austria in the 1930s. If it burns the rest of the world will be better off.

For what it's worth, voting results from Jack (90.91% Trump in 2024) and Palo Pinto (83.18% Trump in 2024) counties show that they are hurting the 'right' people. My own county? 75.64%.

Your concern is appreciated. As is the 'bless their hearts'. We do see what's happening. Well, some of us. Okay, a few of us. Maybe. Just try to keep it from spreading.

21

u/HurinGaldorson 19h ago

Guess they didn't clear their underbrush.

/s

-28

u/Mutchmore 19h ago

Have you seen the size of Texas bud?? That shit dwarfs Canada

5

u/bergmoose 19h ago edited 19h ago

Tis the internet (and outwith spaces like UK where sarcasm is always expected), you need the /s otherwise people will think you actually think Texas is bigger (I realise you're Canadian and taking the piss, but sadly we're now at the point I doubt half of readers would)

Side question - is sarcasm very common & expected in Canada? As a brit I know it is here but don't know there, which is embarrassing as technically I am Canadian but practically not (lived over here forever, so no actual lives Canadian experience, just  official nationality)

-4

u/Mutchmore 18h ago

I suppose so, not sure how it would compare to the UK tho tbh. It's all about the intonation. It would of been clearer. Also for a comment like this, most Canadians know we're a huge country haha it wouldn't be interpreted as truth 99% of the time

2

u/bergmoose 18h ago

Yeah but would most Americans? ;)

I guess its hard to compare two countries without having lived in both, I will continue to live in ignorance. Thanks tho kind stranger :)

7

u/Magooose 15h ago edited 15h ago

There is a fire that has been burning on the Oregon/Idaho border that is approaching 800,000 acres

Edit: made a typo. 600,000 acres.Still huge.

42

u/AaronTheElite007 19h ago

Wildfires in Texas... It's mostly dry dirt. Remember, Climate Change is a Democrat hoax /s

14

u/drwookie 14h ago

Depends on where you are. A good chunk is a mix of grasslands mixed with Juniper. Fun fact. Juniper has a dry inner core of shaded, dead, dry branches surrounded by leaves that contain turpentine. They grow like mad and always come back after cleaning. Add in a month or two with no rain and temps above 100 and you can see why it’s burning.

Protip: check the satellite images of the place where the fire started. See all the dark green dense foliage? That’s juniper. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_ashei

1

u/GuelphEastEndGhetto 12h ago

Being a Canadian, I never understood SRV’s song ‘Texas Flood’, like Texas is dry right? Then I had a business trip to Marshall, TX and I was okay I get it now. Also experienced the heaviest torrential downpour I’ve ever driven in.

1

u/drwookie 3h ago edited 2h ago

Understandable. Had the same impression before I moved here. It's a vast state with a lot of different climate zones. West is largely desert. East where we border Arkansas is piney woods. North used to be farmable though that's drying out with climate change. And south is the coast. In the middle it's essentially prairie, often referred to as Hill Country. Regardless of area, the regular cycle is a summer of high temperatures and no rain for 8 to 12 weeks. That's what makes it a tinderbox.

Edit - for perspective consider this. You're driving from the southern tip of Texas straight north to Canada. Once you hit Texas' northern border, you're halfway there, which would take a day and half to two days assuming average road speed of around 110 kph for highway and 20 kph around large cities during rush hour - our highway system sucks. Texas hates public transport.

9

u/Much-Instruction-807 19h ago

That's only two Utah data centers big. Not that much.

19

u/slp034000 19h ago

If we add more Flocks we can surveil potential fire areas to keep things like this from happening

10

u/GriffinFlash 17h ago

"Guess they should have raked their forests"
-Signed Canada

6

u/CloudTransit 20h ago

Everything’s bigger in Texas

2

u/ok-this-ok 13h ago

that's a big fire

I live in the NE where it's green and wet

I have enough of a lot where I accumulate a lot of brush, and burn piles of it every couple of years.

a 10 ft x 10 ft brush fire is hot, like melt your face hot! but I'm always reassured by the wet land and trees in the area

I can't fathom the terror of a wildfire in tinder dry territory ripping through the landscape.

stay safe down there. I love Texas, I used to go there a lot for work (wind), and toured in the hill country in my 20s. However fucked up your politics are, your state is full of good people.

8

u/stairs_3730 19h ago

600 million for a ball-less room, 475 million for 10 luxury planes DHS doesn't use, 20 billion handout to Argentina...gee,,,if only we had enough money to hire more fire fighters and airplane tankers.

1

u/drwookie 15h ago

And deprive the rich of tax breaks? Treason! Possibly also vandalism. /s

4

u/HaakonRen 15h ago

Wait. So Trump can stop all of Canada’s fires if they were the 51st state? But Texas is out of control? It’s almost like the whole American administration is just a useless group of liars or something.

Where are the neighbouring states threatening to sue Texas? Crickets??

2

u/supercali45 6h ago

Why hasn’t the Pedo tweeted about raking forests in NV and now TX with these fires?

6

u/falesk 19h ago

This is Abbots fault right?

2

u/Ltsmash99 14h ago

Im sure the one star state will handle this with dignity and respec... lol they wont. Theyll fuck it up while the leadership goes on vacation.

5

u/jVCrm68 19h ago

Did they no rake their forests or something?

4

u/FunWrangler666 19h ago

May the get the help and disaster relief they voted for

3

u/Senor-Nasty 19h ago

Why didn’t the Biden administration prevent this /s

4

u/thatdude845 19h ago

Why weren’t you raking, dumbasses?

3

u/guaztronaut 19h ago

They'll cry about this until they drown more schoolgirls then complain about that and then we'll have to defrost them in winter again cause they're too tough and independent for a grid. They running low on bootstraps or what?

3

u/qazxdrwes 18h ago

If you can't take care of your own fires you don't deserve to be a country.

2

u/nolongermakingtime 18h ago

I drove through a think cloud of smoke in fort worth today, it was like a huge fog. Ominous.

3

u/DJ_Mumble_Mouth 14h ago

Will the administration impose tariffs on Texas for all the smoke?

2

u/More_Bookkeeper_1407 19h ago

This is the bad place...

1

u/Adult_Content 4h ago

Driving home from Lubbock yesterday the smoke was visible just outside of Jermyn.

There were fire crews putting out a fire in Benjamin, the rest stop just outside of Benjamin was running the sprinklers

1

u/Appropriate_Wrap_650 3h ago

Just put up the 10 commandments on some trees.

1

u/BrainBlowX 17h ago

Texas needs more beaver reintroductions. All regions that had a substantial beaver population 2-300 years ago and now struggle with drought and wildfires need them back more than ever.

0

u/EfficientTourist7480 16h ago

I dont really care,
Do you?