Thanks to decreasing winds, firefighters across Oklahoma have slowly gained more control of the deadly wildfires that scorched tens of thousands of acres and left four persons dead in the past two weeks.
A new update from the Oklahoma Forestry Services office showed some of the larger fires were 60% and 70% under control.
However, many areas of the state remain under elevated fire danger concern, according to the OFS. It indicated a greenup of some pastures is helping “although wildland fuels remain predominantly available overall and are proving increasingly resistant to control.”
Of concern is the northern half of the state where conditions continued to “degrade.”
“This observation translates into concerning resistance to control, especially on established wildfires and comes with the expectation of increased firefighting resource demands and longer duration commitment.”
Firefighters anticipate some expected rainfall in eastern Oklahoma will help their efforts.
“Unfortunately, the outlook for most of western and northwestern Oklahoma is not so optimistic. With a more unsettled weather pattern, we will be closely monitoring
for fire-effective weather in those areas given the state of fuels and potential for significant fire activity in the northwestern and Panhandle Counties,” advised the OFS.
Ongoing Large / Significant Fire Activity within the OFS Protection Area:(>100 Acres Timber / >300 Acres Grass/Brush)
• Bridge Creek Fire (Latimer County) – 347 Acres / 70% Contained
• Three Rivers Fire (McCurtain County) – 210.4 Acres / 60% Contained
• Rocktown Fire (Pushmataha County) – 1,711 Acres / 65% Contained
• Second Mountain Fire (Latimer County) – 106 Acres / 85% Contained
• Blackbird Creek Fire (Cherokee County) – 245 Acres / 90% Contained
• Eldon Fire (Cherokee County) – 320 Acres / 70% Contained
• Hog Trap Fire (Cherokee County) – 108 Acres / 90% Contained
• Channel 2 Fire (McCurtain County) – 142 Acres / 95% Contained
• Doublehead South Fire (Adair County) – 673 Acres / 100% Contained
• Plan B Fire (Latimer County) – 2,100 Acres / 90% Contained
Fire Activity with OFS Response Outside of the Protection Area: No New Fire Response
• 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 / 75% Contained
• Little Salt Creek Fire (Pawnee County) – 11,190 Acres / 50% Contained
• Hickory Hills Fire (Oklahoma County) – 6,643 Acres / 60% Contained
• 33 Road Fire (Logan/Payne Counties) – 33,410 Acres / 63% Contained
• Euchee Valley Fire (Payne County) – 8,512 Acres / 80% Contained
• 328 Road Fire (Pawnee County) – 470 Acres / 50% Contained
