Smoke From Latin American Fires Afflicts Southwest

Smoke from uncontrolled fires in southern Mexico and Central America has drifted over several states, and no relief was in sight for the intensifying bank of smoke in Texas, the National Weather Service said Thursday.

“We’re really not expecting anything to happen to wash it out,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Krista Villarreal in Fort Worth.

The fires have been sending smoke northward for more than a week, sheathing the Gulf of Mexico in a gloomy fog.

The smoke has drifted over Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, southern and central Missouri and western and central Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service.

Smoke has also been reported in California and Florida.

Texas was warning people with respiratory problems to stay indoors. Late Thursday, a Mexican Embassy spokesman in Washington said the United States has offered to help battle the blazes.

The haze forced the grounding of medical helicopters in North Texas because of poor visibility. High school baseball and softball playoff games in the Houston area were being postponed and some were canceled.

Dozens of coastal school districts canceled field trips and sporting events. The skylines of most of the state’s major cities were shrouded.

The blazes were begun as far back as January by farmers clearing land for planting. There are more than 9,000 fires burning along the border between Mexico and Central America, some of which have been blamed on arsonists.