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The biggest of the blazes – 26km wide – in rural Bastrop County remained completely uncontained early on Tuesday.
Firefighters hope calmer winds will help them control the fires, which have prompted mass evacuations.
Powerful gusts from Tropical Storm Lee have been fanning the flames.
Texas has been suffering its worst drought since the 1950s.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Texas Governor Rick Perry said more than 40 470ha had been scorched by at least 57 wildfires in Texas over the past week.
More than 1 000 homes had been burned over the past week, added Texas emergency management chief Nim Kidd.
On Monday, officials said about 500 homes had been destroyed.
The National Weather Service said that winds had dropped early on Tuesday to 8km/h – compared with 48km/h a day earlier – and were expected to remain calm for the rest of the day.
About 5 000 people have been forced to leave their homes because of the Bastrop fire and hundreds have taken refuge in emergency shelters.
Gina Thurman, an evacuee at a Catholic Church that is being used as a shelter around Bastrop, choked back tears as she told the Associated Press: “Waiting is the most frustrating thing.
“You’re sitting there and you don’t know anything but your house is probably burning.”
Nearly 600 of the homes that have been destroyed are in Bastrop, said the Texas Forest Service.
Schools were closed on Tuesday in that county because of the fire.
On Tuesday, Gov Perry visited West Austin to survey the damage.
“The magnitude of these losses are pretty stunning,” Gov Perry said.
“We’ve got a lot of Texans living in shelters now.”
Earlier, Mr Perry cut short presidential campaigning to return to the state, saying the next 48-72 hours would be crucial in the battle against the conflagration.
The Republican White House hopeful said he was unsure if he would be attending the GOP presidential debate yesterday in California, because of the disaster.
Across the state, firefighting crews are straining to refill at lakes and rivers affected by the long drought. More than 250 fire personnel were on the ground in Bastrop alone.
“There’s practically a fleet of aircraft in the air,” said Jan Amen, a Forest Service spokeswoman.
“Problem is, we have to share them with other fires because there’s so many burning in the area.”
A small number of firefighters have been treated for heat-related issues, officials said.
Texas has been plagued by wildfires since the end of last year, the result of a continuing drought that has caused more than US$5 billion in damage to the state’s agricultural industry.
Since December, 3,5m acres in Texas have been claimed by wildfires, an area about the size of the state of Connecticut, say state officials. – bbc.co.uk
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