In Texas and Oklahoma, the Smokehouse Creek Fire has already scorched about 900,000 acres – larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. The vast majority of its destruction has been in northern Texas, where 83-year-old Joyce Blankenship was killed by the inferno in Hutchinson County, her family said.

"The house was gone," her grandson, Nathan Blankenship, said. "There was no way she could've gotten out."

The deadly inferno is one of five massive wildfires sweeping through the region, with no end in sight.

Despite the chance of light precipitation Thursday, dry air and ferocious winds are expected to return Friday and into the weekend – likely fueling the flames.