Rick Perry pulls out of campaign events to deal with Texas wildfires

Texas Governor Rick Perry has pulled out of a number of campaign events to return to Texas and deal with wildfires in the state.

"The Governor is in close contact with emergency operations officials regarding fires in Texas, including calls with his emergency management chief this morning," Perry's campaign communications secretary Ray Sullivan told CNN. "Governor Perry is cancelling the remainder of his South Carolina schedule today (including DeMint Forum) and his California schedule tomorrow in order to return to Texas ASAP."

Perry had been scheduled to attend the Palmetto Freedom Forum in South Carolina on Monday. Five other Republican presidential candidates are planning to appear at the forum, which will be broadcast on CNN. According to The Los Angeles Times, candidates will go on stage one at a time for question-and-answer sessions with Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) Congressman Steve King (R-IA) and Robert George, the founder of the American Principles Project and a Princeton University professor. DeMint is a major figure in the Tea Party movement.

The Texas Forest Service said on Monday that dozens of wildfires were burning across the state, CNN reports. One fire southeast of Austin destroyed 300 homes, while another in eastern Texas killed a mother and her 18-month-old child in their mobile home. 3.5 million acres have burned in the state since November, Texas' worst fire season in history.

Firefighters are trying to combat the flames by dousing them with a mixture of water and fire retardant dropped from helicopters.

"The wildfire situation in Texas is severe and all necessary state resources are being made available to protect lives and property," Perry said in a statement. "I urge Texans to take extreme caution as we continue to see the devastating effects of sweeping wildfires impacting both rural and urban areas of the state."

Perry is still expected to attend the Reagan Centennial GOP Candidates Debate on Wednesday night, the first debate since he entered the race.