You may have heard about the terrible wildfires that recently destroyed over 199,001 acres in West Texas (and are only 75% contained at this time). The fire began on Saturday, April 9, a mile outside of Marfa, and raced north to Fort Davis — home to our Texas Biennial artist, Alyce Santoro — and many homes and thousands of acres of ranch land burned.

We are incredibly indebted to Marfa Public Radio and Big Bend Now for their tireless coverage, as well as the local, state and national firefighters and local volunteers who assisted in aid efforts. If you’re interested in helping, here are a few ways:

• A primary way to help those devastated by the wildfires is sending donations to the Jeff Davis County Relief Fund, P.O. Box 1809, Fort Davis, TX 79734. Write the fund’s account number on the check (Acct # 321028). Donations may be sent online to jeffdaviscountyrelief.org, which is facilitated by Fort Davis State Bank.

• Make a monetary donation to the Marfa and Fort Davis volunteer fire departments: Marfa Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 846, Marfa, Texas 79843 or The Jeff Davis County Volunteer Fire Department, Fort Davis, TX 79734. Any amount is appreciated.

• The State of Texas Agriculture Relief Fund, or STAR, collects monetary donations to help farmers and ranchers recover from an emergency. Visit TexasAgriculture.gov to contribute.

You can also give to the American Red Cross Southwest Division out of Midland or the Salvation Army of Texas. For more ways to help, please visit Big Bend Now.

Thanks to The Big Bend Sentinel for these suggestions.