The “perfect storm” is what Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt called the firestorm that swept across the state on Friday, killing one person, bringing 70 mile an hour winds, overturned tractor-trailer rigs on highways and leaving nearly 300 homes and buildings destroyed by wildfires.
After he toured ravaged areas of the state where tens of thousands of acres of land burned in the fires, the governor held a news conference in Mannford and explained some of the wildfires were ignited by downed power lines or sparking lines.
Tens of thousands of customers of OG&E, PSO and rural utilities lost power during the extreme winds. As of Saturday, Public Service Company of Oklahoma reported 95% of its customers who lost power had it restored. PSO’s outages, according to the utility website peaked Friday night at 25,663 customers.
As of 10:30 a.m. Suday, OG&E crews restored power to 98% of customers who experienced an outage from Friday’s high winds with approximately 1,100 customers remaining without power.
“We expect 95% of all customers who experienced an outage from Friday’s extreme winds and can take power to be restored by the end of the day on Sunday. Estimated restoration times will be available for specific outages when all damage evaluations are complete,” stated OG&E in an update.
The widespread damage to the OGE grid was extensive and included downed power lines, 360 broken power poles, 54 transformers, 48 miles of wire, damaged transmission structures, tree damage to equipment, broken cross arms and other equipment attached to poles.
At one point on Friday, the Oklahoma Emergency Management Office reported more than 130 fires were reported in 44 counties:
Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Canadian, Choctaw, Cleveland, Comanche, Creek, Dewey, Grant, Grady, Dewey, Harper, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Latimer, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, Mayes, McClain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Okfuskee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Roger Mills, Seminole, Sequoyah, Stephens, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, and Woods
Wind damage has also been reported in numerous counties, including roof damage, vehicles blown over, and downed trees and power lines.
On Sunday, the Oklahoma Forestry Services reported a long list of wildfires the largest of which was in western Oklahoma’s Roger Mills and Dewey Counties.
Ongoing Large / Significant Fire Activity within the OFS Protection Area:(>100 Acres Timber / >300 Acres Grass/Brush)
• Ketcher hollow Fire (Latimer County) – 101 Acres / 70% Contained
• Tully Hollow Fire (Adair County) – 205 Acres / 50% Contained
• Brushy Church Fire (Pittsburg County) – 240 Acres / 35% Contained
• Big Draw Fire (McCurtain County) – 146.4 Acres / 50% Contained
• Cherry Tree Fire (Adair County) – 109.0 Acres / 50% Contained
• Low Gap Lookout Fire (Haskell County) – 394 Acres / 80% Contained
• Hamby Ridge Fire (Delaware County) – 706 Acres / 70% Contained
• Scraper Hollow Creek Fire (Cherokee County) – 165 Acres / 70% Contained
• Gravel Pit Fire (Adair County) – 124 Acres / 90% Contained
• Eagle Bluff Fire (Cherokee County) – 145 Acres / 80% Contained
• Slickfoot Fire (Delaware County) – 289 Acres / 100% Contained
• Scraper Hollow Creek Fire (Cherokee County) – 165 Acres / 90% Contained
• New State Fire (Pittsburg County) – 200 Acres / 90% Contained
Fire Activity with OFS Response Outside of the Protection Area: 4 Fires Burned 49,975 Acres Acres
• 840 Road Fire (Roger Mills/Dewey County) – 27,025 Acres / 20% Contained
• Camargo Fire (Dewey County) – 5,725 Acres / 20% Contained
• Little Salt Creek Fire (Pawnee County) – 11.192 Acres/Multiple Structures / 10% Contained
• Hickory Hills Fire (Oklahoma County) – 6,643 Acres/13 Structures/ 25% Contained
• 33 Road Fire (Logan/Payne Counties) – 33,475 Acres/50 Structures / 10% Contained
• Timberline Fire (Cleveland County) – 98 Acres/17 Structures / 75% Contained
• Post Oak Fire (Cleveland County) – 204 Acres / 70% Contained
• Onyx Fire (Cleveland County) – 380 Acres / 60% Contained
• Station 2 Fire (Cleveland County) – 583 Acres/8 Structures / 50% Contained
• 1980 Road Fire (Beckham County) – 2,000 Acres / 40% Contained
• Euchee Valley Fire (Payne County) – 8,512Acres/9 Structures / 50% Contained
• Hellroaring Creek Fire (Pawnee County) – 10,186 Acres / 50% Contained
• Stripes Fire (Creek County) – 436.0 Acres / 75% Contained
