VinnysGirl
01-01-2006, 08:41 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/01/wildfires/index.html
DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- New Year's Day was no holiday for firefighters in Oklahoma and north-central Texas, with high winds driving fires into at least one Oklahoma City neighborhood Sunday night.
Oklahoma City firefighters ordered residents of surrounding neighborhoods to evacuate after at least three homes burned in northeastern Oklahoma City.
In Texas, authorities ordered the evacuation of about 200 homes as high winds and heat fueled another day of wildfires across the tinder-dry prairie.
Oklahoma's emergency management agency warned that residents faced "extreme fire weather conditions" again Monday, with the potential for fires to spread rapidly.
Wildfires have burned parts of 24 Oklahoma counties since Tuesday, and have claimed 250,000 acres of prairie and 200 homes since November, the agency reported.
"We are extremely busy -- more so than we expected for this time of the year," state Fire Marshal Robert Doke told CNN.
Central Oklahoma has had only a quarter-inch of rain since the end of October, and forecasters predicted no relief in the next few days.
A westerly wind was blowing "extremely hard" Sunday night, spreading embers across northeastern Oklahoma City, said Maj. Brian Stanaland, a Fire Department spokesman.
"It's just a disaster out here," Stanaland told CNN. "We're doing the very best we can with what we've got trying to keep these fires contained."
Residents had only minutes to clear out before the fires spread, Stanaland said. Hundreds of firefighters were mobilized to contain the fire and evacuate nearby residents.
Two other large fires were burning Sunday afternoon, one near Oklahoma City and another to the north, near Guthrie.
State police closed Interstate 35, the major north-south artery through the state, for about an hour after the Guthrie fire jumped the highway.
In addition, winds gusting above 40 mph grounded helicopters and tanker planes used to fight the fires, Doke said.
"The bulldozers do great, but by the time we get them dispatched to one area and get them working, we've got other fires," he said.
Wildfires also raged for a fifth day in north-central Texas.
Residents of about 200 homes were forced to evacuate ahead of a fire near the town of Carbon, about 130 miles west of Dallas, said Sparky Dean, an Eastland County government spokesman.
Dean said most of the approximately 15 fires that broke out across the state's north-central counties between Abilene and Dallas had been contained.
County officials were receiving state help to fight the fires, "and now we're working on federal resources," he said.
Authorities have blamed three deaths in Texas and one in Oklahoma on the fires.
Dean had no estimate of the size of the fires, but said the total burned acreage statewide could exceed 300,000 by Monday.
Over the past five days, nearly 30,000 acres of prairie and scores of homes have burned across Texas, fueled by a lengthy drought and winds between 25 and 35 mph. Temperatures ranged into the low 80s across the region, Dean said.
Winds gusting up to 60 mph fanned a wall of flames outside Lubbock, forcing nearby residents to evacuate homes and livestock before the blaze was brought under control.
The nearly 40-acre blaze destroyed at least two barns and left a volunteer firefighter hospitalized for smoke inhalation before it was brought under control, said Lt. Mark Ethridge, a Lubbock Fire Department spokesman.
"This one really is not classified as a big one, if you want to compare it to some of the other ones that are burning across the state," Ethridge said.
To the south, in Sterling County, firefighters battled a 1,800-acre blaze along a five-mile front, the state Forestry Department said.
The smoke and soot stirred up by the fires have left terrain reminiscent of what was left by dust storms in Depression-era Oklahoma, Doke told CNN.
"You would think it was dusk out there when it should be extremely light, because of the smoke and dust," he said.
I think this is why my allergies have been so bad... it's just so dry here and they even had fires in the metroplex the other day... in Colleyville and Arlington... they are close to DFW international airport!
DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- New Year's Day was no holiday for firefighters in Oklahoma and north-central Texas, with high winds driving fires into at least one Oklahoma City neighborhood Sunday night.
Oklahoma City firefighters ordered residents of surrounding neighborhoods to evacuate after at least three homes burned in northeastern Oklahoma City.
In Texas, authorities ordered the evacuation of about 200 homes as high winds and heat fueled another day of wildfires across the tinder-dry prairie.
Oklahoma's emergency management agency warned that residents faced "extreme fire weather conditions" again Monday, with the potential for fires to spread rapidly.
Wildfires have burned parts of 24 Oklahoma counties since Tuesday, and have claimed 250,000 acres of prairie and 200 homes since November, the agency reported.
"We are extremely busy -- more so than we expected for this time of the year," state Fire Marshal Robert Doke told CNN.
Central Oklahoma has had only a quarter-inch of rain since the end of October, and forecasters predicted no relief in the next few days.
A westerly wind was blowing "extremely hard" Sunday night, spreading embers across northeastern Oklahoma City, said Maj. Brian Stanaland, a Fire Department spokesman.
"It's just a disaster out here," Stanaland told CNN. "We're doing the very best we can with what we've got trying to keep these fires contained."
Residents had only minutes to clear out before the fires spread, Stanaland said. Hundreds of firefighters were mobilized to contain the fire and evacuate nearby residents.
Two other large fires were burning Sunday afternoon, one near Oklahoma City and another to the north, near Guthrie.
State police closed Interstate 35, the major north-south artery through the state, for about an hour after the Guthrie fire jumped the highway.
In addition, winds gusting above 40 mph grounded helicopters and tanker planes used to fight the fires, Doke said.
"The bulldozers do great, but by the time we get them dispatched to one area and get them working, we've got other fires," he said.
Wildfires also raged for a fifth day in north-central Texas.
Residents of about 200 homes were forced to evacuate ahead of a fire near the town of Carbon, about 130 miles west of Dallas, said Sparky Dean, an Eastland County government spokesman.
Dean said most of the approximately 15 fires that broke out across the state's north-central counties between Abilene and Dallas had been contained.
County officials were receiving state help to fight the fires, "and now we're working on federal resources," he said.
Authorities have blamed three deaths in Texas and one in Oklahoma on the fires.
Dean had no estimate of the size of the fires, but said the total burned acreage statewide could exceed 300,000 by Monday.
Over the past five days, nearly 30,000 acres of prairie and scores of homes have burned across Texas, fueled by a lengthy drought and winds between 25 and 35 mph. Temperatures ranged into the low 80s across the region, Dean said.
Winds gusting up to 60 mph fanned a wall of flames outside Lubbock, forcing nearby residents to evacuate homes and livestock before the blaze was brought under control.
The nearly 40-acre blaze destroyed at least two barns and left a volunteer firefighter hospitalized for smoke inhalation before it was brought under control, said Lt. Mark Ethridge, a Lubbock Fire Department spokesman.
"This one really is not classified as a big one, if you want to compare it to some of the other ones that are burning across the state," Ethridge said.
To the south, in Sterling County, firefighters battled a 1,800-acre blaze along a five-mile front, the state Forestry Department said.
The smoke and soot stirred up by the fires have left terrain reminiscent of what was left by dust storms in Depression-era Oklahoma, Doke told CNN.
"You would think it was dusk out there when it should be extremely light, because of the smoke and dust," he said.
I think this is why my allergies have been so bad... it's just so dry here and they even had fires in the metroplex the other day... in Colleyville and Arlington... they are close to DFW international airport!