Texas newspapers appeared to be lucky last month escaping with no damage from wildfires that raged across several counties destroying 238 homes and 254,555 acres.

Several Texas newspapers were in the thick of the disasters and under evacuation orders at varied points, but as of Jan. 2 none had reported building damage from the wildfires.

Early on Jan. 1 officials evacuated Nocona when a wildfire came near the North Texas town. Linda Mesler, copublisher of the Nocona News, said the newspaper was spared any damage but several houses on the outskirts of town were destroyed. The Meslers were able to remove their computers and other valuables in advance of the fires.

Ringgold, which is just about 13 miles away, was not so lucky with about two-thirds of the town’s structures destroyed including a grocery store and the post office, Mesler said.

Phil Major, publisher of the Clay County Leader, was in the thick of that wildfire, following it from where it started in Clay County and spread into Ringgold just over the Montague County line.

The Bowie News also is in Montague County, only about 20 miles from Ringgold.

“This is our county’s second major fire in a month where many homes were destroyed,” editor Barbara Beckwith Green said.

Earlier in December fires raged through Cross Plains, in west-central Texas. The town had significant damage to its residential areas with about a third of the structures destroyed but the newspaper sits downtown and was spared fire damage, Cross Plains Review publisher Don Tabor said.

The newspaper staff took its pages to sister newspaper the Clyde Journal to print the week of the fire and Tabor said they had to drive a round-about route because most of the major roads were closed due to the fire.

The wildfires spread across North and Central Texas. Gov. Rick Perry’s office reported that the danger heightened Dec. 26 and in all 520 firefighters and 97 aircraft helped battle the blazes.

The fires claimed the lives of three Texans as of Jan. 3.