Only the burned ruins of a cotton gin destroyed by fire on Tuesday remain in the southwest town of Lone Wolf.
For a while, fear that oil and chemicals in the business would cause a more dangerous situation prompted state troopers and authorities to begin an evacuation of some of the town in Kiowa county.
“We started an evacuation plan for the south side of town because of the chemicals and dismissed school early,” said Deputy James Wall in an interview with KSWO TV in Lawton.
Deputies and firefighters monitored the fire throughout the night as smoke also forced the shutdown of Highway 9.
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire remained under investigation. However, strong north winds gusting up to 40 miles an hour hampered firefighters as they attempted to gain control of the fire that started around 3 in the afternoon.
