30 fires per day hamper firefighting efforts in the Sooner State

AP PHOTO/THE OKLAHOMAN, BRYAN TERRY An Edmond (Okla.) firefighter helps fight a grass fire with a shovel in Edmond on Jan. 7.

With the new year came new fire danger for the residents of much of Oklahoma, where wind-driven flames scorched hundreds of thousands of acres. At press time, wildfires had charred 427,981 acres, destroyed more than 220 homes and caused the death of three individuals since Nov. 1.

C.J. Norvell, the fire information officer for the Oklahoma fire response, says the state has faced the same conditions for at least 45 days-high winds and extremely dry weather. "This is so different for us because normally, you work on a fire and there's one or two per complex. You get it out and prepare for the next day," she explains. "Right now, we're averaging 30 new fires per day, and it's a totally different picture each day. There's just one after another."
 
Weather Woes
The fires started in early November-three months earlier than normal-when the dry weather and high winds combined to create a dangerous fire situation. Then on Nov. 27, a strong northwesterly wind with gusts up to 60 mph blew through the state, sparking fires in at least 17 of the state's 77 counties. Norvell explains that the high winds were part of a huge system that created storms in California and other parts of the country. She adds that although the rain from these storms did not reach Oklahoma, the winds certainly did. Further, she says, the last six months of 2005 were the driest in more than 80 years.

Response Efforts
The State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) worked in conjunction with the incident command post (ICP) to support local fire departments and other first responders battling the wildfires. In addition to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM), the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) is represented at the EOC. The Oklahoma Military Department (OMD) supported firefighting efforts statewide through its Joint Forces Headquarters in Oklahoma City, and the ICP was activated in Henryetta. The following agencies, departments and organizations were represented at the ICP: the OEM, U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), ODAFF, National Weather Service, Air Evac Lifeteam, Okmulgee County Emergency Management and the Eastern Oklahoma Development District representing rural fire coordinators.

Relentless Blazes
Fires continued burning throughout December; however, a windstorm whipped through the area on Dec. 27, fanning a new batch of large fires. Since this time, the EOC has received wildfire reports from 42 counties: Beaver, Bryan, Canadian, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Cotton, Creek, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Haskell, Hughes, Jackson, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Latime, LeFlore, Lincoln, Logan, Love, McCurtain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee, Noble, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Osage, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Rogers, Seminole, Stephens, Tulsa, Washington and Woodward. Norvell adds, however, that the fires have affected nearly every county. She explains that with so many fires erupting every day, it's hard to track how many are burning in any given county on any given day.

For example, at least a dozen fires burned  in Oklahoma City itself, destroying several homes and prompting the evacuation of two neighborhoods in the northeastern part of the city. A Chinook helicopter was deployed to northeast Oklahoma City to provide aerial fire suppression. Another 60 structures were destroyed 20 miles north of the city. Fires also burned across Bryan County in southeastern Oklahoma; the worst scorched nearly 10,000 acres near the small town of Achille. A USFS airtanker, equipped with fire retardant, was deployed to this area. A fire in Mustang, about 10 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, destroyed five homes and burned 400 acres.
 

AP PHOTO/THE OKLAHOMAN, BRYAN TERRY Joe Yoe and other civilians use shovels to hold a fireline just south of Sorghum Mill.

Calling All Resources
On Dec. 30, Gov. Brad Henry authorized State Agriculture Secretary Terry Peach to request 14 firefighting teams from other southern states. He also directed the state agriculture department's Forestry Division to establish a command post to help support firefighters across the state. Each team of firefighters consisted of two bulldozers, two fire engines and eight firefighters. Additionally, a new ICP was established at the Shawnee Expo Center. The ICP team was the same one that staffed the Henryetta ICP in November.

By early January, more than 300 personnel were assigned to battle the fires, and about 14,000 firefighters from rural, volunteer and municipal fire departments across Oklahoma, as well as the USFS, responded to fires as they occurred. The states represented in the firefighting efforts include Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Arkansas, California, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Also, 20 Native American tribes/agencies provided fire-suppression assistance.

As of Jan. 20, the resources available for assignment included eight heavy airtankers, four air-attack planes, four lead planes, 65 bulldozers, six single-engine airtankers, four national guard helicopters, 99 engines and nearly 500 personnel. Additionally, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, provided a radio relay service through the ICP and assisted in spotting new fires. In addition to the firefighting teams from other states, four airtankers from the BIA and USFS were based in Ada and Fort Smith, Ark., and four helicopters from the Oklahoma Army National Guard are providing air support.

No End in Sight
Reports indicate that some of the fires were caused by fireworks, tossed cigarettes, inappropriately discarded fireplace ashes or burning rubbish that got out of control. Norvell says that "99 percent of the fires could have been prevented," meaning they were primarily human caused, whether accidental or intentional.

Additionally, a Jan. 5 Associated Press article reported that Justin Wilkerson, 18, had been arrested on Jan. 2 and charged with arson related to four of the fires. Wilkerson is the son of Skip Wilkerson, who recently retired after serving as assistant fire chief and interim fire chief in Anadarko, Okla., a town about 50 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

Jerry Lojka, fire marshal for the Midwest City (Okla.) Fire Department, is currently acting as the spokesman for the OEM. He says the three fire-related deaths include a man who was burned on Nov. 27 in McIntosh County, a woman who suffered cardiac arrest in Carter County and a man who suffered burns on Dec. 27 in Hughes County.

Lojka adds that fire officials don't expect the fire situation to be resolved until it rains. On Jan. 10, President Bush declared that a major disaster existed in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.

Next month's Big Fire News will address the fires currently raging in Texas.

Some information for this report was taken from the following sources: The ODAFF Web site, the FEMA Web site and the Associated Press.