By Penny Cockerell and Sheila Stogsdill
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma)
Copyright 2006 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved
Firefighters fought heat, wind and flames while other Oklahomans suffered through water shortages Wednesday — the first day of a statewide burn ban issued by state officials.
Large grass fires were reported by officials Wednesday afternoon near Stringtown in Atoka County and near Ada in Pontotoc County.
There, a fire north of the community threatened structures, burning about five acres near State Highway 99, officials said.
They said the blaze was sparked by a person burning trash who may have been unaware of the ban. Three wildfires in Bryan County on Wednesday kept firefighters hopping, too.
One burned 400 acres of grass, trees and hay northeast of Kenefic and took departments from Atoka and Bryan counties to put out.
Another 40-acre fire east of Caddo in reignited Wednesday, while another grass fire started Tuesday night east of Caddo. The Bureau of Indian Affairs assisted in putting out these fires.
“The wind is blowing 20, 25 mph right now, so it’s making it pretty tough,” Bryan County firefighter Chris Hayworth said.
For Ada firefighters, conditions have been bad for days, and the fires couldn’t have come at a worse time, said Assistant Fire Chief Chris Sutton. Their grass fire truck is inoperable, he said.
“Some of these small volunteer fire departments have been assisting us a lot,” he said. “We’re just extremely, extremely dry here, as everyone is.”
Oklahoma City firefighters also were kept busy battling several grass fires and at least two house fires on Wednesday.
In Oologah and Talala, customers of Rogers County’s Rural Water District No. 4 were cut off from service so the district could conserve water.
Before district officials took that step, water usage for the system had jumped from 800,000 to 1.3 million gallons of water daily, said Julie Hendrix, office manager.
The water district spent Wednesday preparing fliers to tell residents when they would be allowed to use water.