A lack of air support and ineffective coordination hurt efforts to contain this year's Panhandle fires, the committee said.

In testimony to state lawmakers, Dale Jenkins and his Panhandle peers shared the “hidden cost” of the wildfires.

Thursday’s hearing marked the end of the Legislature’s three-day marathon of public hearings.

The Texas A&M Forest Service concluded that a fallen decayed utility pole caused the Smokehouse Creek fire.

A special legislative committee is investigating what caused the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest in state history.