Record high temperatures (wow, like that 92 I saw for Dallas? Unreal!) and dry conditions forced a Red Flag Warning across Oklahoma and North Texas today through tomorrow.
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Fires in Tulsa area and Lake Texoma Area today:
http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=99807
Wildfires Blacken Fields Near Mannford And Broken Arrow
Several wildfires burned Wednesday afternoon near Tulsa. One wildfire blackened at least a 1,000 acres east of Mannford on state Highway 51.
Fire officials say several homes and a school were threatened for a time Wednesday afternoon. State highway 51 east of Mannford was closed, because of the smoke across the highway. A number of rural fire departments were busy fighting the blaze.
Another fire burned in Broken Arrow. The fire was located near 31st and the Creek Turnpike. The turnpike was shut down for a time Wednesday afternoon as firefighters battle the blaze.
Broken Arrow and several other area fire departments were called in to extinguish this wildfire. Officials say at least two Broken Arrow firefighters sustained minor injuries.
State fire officials are warning of a very high fire danger across Oklahoma for the rest of Wednesday and into Thursday morning and a Red Flag Warning is in place statewide.
More than 480,500 acres have been burned in Oklahoma since November 1st by more than 2,300 wildfires.
http://www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2006/03/01/news/news1.txt Wednesday March 1, 2006
Wildfire closes Highway 69/75
By MATT SWEARENGIN
SENIOR Staff Writer
CALERA - A grass fire frenzy late Tuesday afternoon forced closure of Highway 69/75 south of Calera because of the thick smoke.
The County Communications Center began receiving calls at 3:32 about a fire on the railroad tracks east of Lemonhill Road. Calls also were received from Indian Hill Road, Freda Circle, McKinley Avenue and Spivey Drive. Numerous firefighters from different departments were dispatched to the fire and an airplane was called in from Ardmore to drop flame retardant on the blazes.
Assistant Calera Fire Chief Brian Norton said a train passing through ignited numerous grass fires south of the city and inside the city limits. Trains pass through the area every day and it is not known why fires were ignited, but Norton said state authorities will be investigating.
The fires came within 100 yards of structures and firefighters fought to keep it from reaching Luke Bros. Propane.
“It went around Luke's Propane but none of the propane tanks caught fire,” Norton said. “A big pile of railroad cross tires caught fire that got into the power lines.”
Hay bales also burned.
Air support was called in at 4:37 and arrived about 30 minutes later. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol closed both lanes of the highway for approximately two hours before it was reopened about 5:30.
More than a dozen fire departments sent units to the fire. Five Durant firefighters in two trucks were on the scene more than two hours. Some units began to be cleared from the scene around 6 p.m.
According to Norton, a four to five mile stretch was burned. Calera firefighters stayed on the scene until after midnight this morning to put out hot spots.
97 today in Okmulgee and Ada (Oklahoma), 92 in Tulsa and 91 in Oklahoma City.
How hot is it? Well, the state record for Oklahoma for February stands at 99 in 1918 in Arapaho.
CALERA - A grass fire frenzy late Tuesday afternoon forced closure of Highway 69/75 south of Calera because of the thick smoke. Calera is only about 20 miles north of my "other" house, the one where my wife lives and I get to occasionally visit. She didn't mention anything about this when we spoke this evening about 8 PM. Highway 75 is aka "Central Expressway" another 40 miles or so south into Texas, most especially in Dallas, which would be about 75 miles south of Calera.