Oklahoma National Guard and local fire departments worked together to contain the burn.
On Sunday, March 22, the embers of a previous controlled burn in Craig County, Oklahoma were ignited by strong winds, broke containment and started a wildfire in Rogers County. The fire, which affected mostly fields and wooded areas, managed to scorch over 300 acres of land before the Oklahoma National Guard and local fire departments contained the blaze. 20 houses were evacuated by Rogers County Emergency Management, none of which were harmed. However, five buildings have been confirmed to have been destroyed as of March 23, all of which had been abandoned. The firefighters called in a Black Hawk helicopter the following day to pour water on the fire from above, managing to have the blaze 75% controlled by 8:00 that evening. No one was hurt or killed in the event.
The area had been under a red flag notice for days leading up to the breakout, meaning that weather conditions were likely to turn any ignition into a major wildfire. On Sunday, the weather was hotter and dryer than average, the hottest March 22 in the past 10 years, with winds of 23.1 mph and gusts up to 41.6 mph blowing in from the west. These conditions were not sufficient to initiate a burn ban, although there had been one in effect earlier in the month, which was lifted on March 10.
The fire started from the still-warm embers of a controlled burn performed several days beforehand in Craig County. Controlled burns are a routine practice wherein designated areas of land are purposefully set ablaze to promote fire-resistant flora and eliminate highly combustible factors in the environment from contributing to future unexpected fires. However, controlled burns are impossible to fully douse, so they are typically left to smolder under the watchful eye of the fire department in case conditions become likely to create a fire.
On Sunday, those conditions were met perfectly: the air got warmer and the direction of the wind changed, also increasing in speed. The fire ignited and began spreading rapidly in the dry, gusty environment. “It jumped the county road right in front of us,” Chelsea Fire Chief Craig Sampson told News on 6, “and within minutes it was already covering about 20 acres.” At the first sign of the breakout, 20 homes were evacuated and multiple fire departments were called in to help. Sampson’s department was one of 14 working to contain the fire on March 22, along with the Oklahoma National Guard. In the end, a Black Hawk helicopter, capable of dropping 660 gallons of water at a time, was required to curb the spread.
Rogers County Emergency Management Director Scotty Stokes said in a 2 News Oklahoma interview that the helicopter was a great help in fighting in the more wooded and uneven areas of the fire, where he said the job of the firefighters is “difficult” and “very labor-intensive.” The blaze has been categorized as a grass fire, which are common in Oklahoma but as Rogers said, “are usually not this large or growing this quickly.”
All previously evacuated residents returned safely to their homes on Monday night, and the fire has been fully extinguished. However, until more rain falls, Director Stokes urges Oklahomans to keep watchful as any kind of spark, even from chain dragging on the highway, could result in another, potentially much worse, scenario.
