Anticipated rainfall in some areas of Oklahoma this week gives hope for fewer disastrous wildfires like those of the past two weeks which burned hundreds of homes, left four persons dead and darkened tens of thousands of acres of land.
The latest wildfire update from the Oklahoma Forestry Services office indicated the fire danger was relaxed slightly on Tuesday.
At the same time, some of the state’s larger fires are under more control and in northwest Oklahoma where a 6,000-acre fire occurred, it is now described as 100% under control.
The state’s two largest wildfires, the 33 Road Fire which burned 33,410 acres in Logan and Payne Counties and the 840 Road Fire which burned 27,855 acres in Roger Mills and Dewey Counties, are reported to be at least 70% or more under control.
Ongoing Large / Significant Fire Activity within the OFS Protection Area:(>100 Acres Timber / >300 Acres Grass/Brush)
• Salt Creek Fire (Sequoyah County) – 1,151 Acres / 40% Contained
• Bridge Creek Fire (Latimer County) – 347 Acres / 75% Contained
• Three Rivers Fire (McCurtain County) – 210.4 Acres / 85% Contained
• Rocktown Fire (Pushmataha County) – 1,711 Acres / 85% Contained
• Second Mountain Fire (Latimer County) – 106 Acres / 100% Contained
• Eldon Fire (Cherokee County) – 320 Acres / 90% Contained
• Plan B Fire (Latimer County) – 2,100 Acres / 95% Contained
Fire Activity with OFS Response Outside of the Protection Area: 2 Fires Burned 519.1 Acres
• Blue Water Tower Fire (Haskell County) – 519 Acres / 55% Contained
• 840 Road Fire (Roger Mills/Dewey County) – 27,855 Acres / 75% Contained
• Oak Street Fire (Pawnee County) – 8,750 Acres / 75% Contained
• Camargo Fire (Dewey County) – 6,075 Acres / 100% Contained
• Little Salt Creek Fire (Pawnee County) – 11,190 Acres / 50% Contained
• 33 Road Fire (Logan/Payne Counties) – 33,410 Acres / 71% Contained
• 328 Road Fire (Pawnee County) – 470 Acres / 61% Contained
As for the outlook the rest of the week, the OFS stated:
“A considerable amount of attention is being given to the rainfall
potential over the next seven days, although the harsh reality is that wetting amounts potentially driving forward meaningful green-up appear to be reserved for south-central, southeastern and potentially eastern Oklahoma. Northcentral, western and northwestern Oklahoma have very low potential for seeing
beneficial rains that would improve the wildfire outlook in the near-term. While it does look like an abbreviated period of somewhat less fire danger concern, current outlooks point to a return to elevated fire danger concern during a period of the year when stronger, often fire-effective weather patterns descend
on Oklahoma.”
