Grass Fires Burn 2,100 Acres in Oklahoma, Close I-35

Article

Wildfires scorched thousands of acres of land in central Oklahoma on Jan. 18, prompting evacuations, damaging buildings and forcing the closure of busy Interstate 35 in Logan County for more than an hour.

Two fires began near Guthrie in the afternoon on Sunday. They burned more than 2,100 acres and damaged a house and several other buildings, Guthrie Fire Chief Eric Harlow told The Oklahoman. No injuries were reported, he said.

One fire prompted local officials to ask some people in its path to evacuate, including residents around Meridian, about 30 miles north of Oklahoma City. Television footage showed destroyed metal sheds and agricultural buildings in pastures burned by the flames.

That evacuation order was lifted around 5:45 p.m. Sunday, Logan County emergency manager David Ball told the newspaper.

Smoke from the spreading flames was blamed for a series of collisions on I-35 that forced the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to close both northbound and southbound lanes of the highway and reroute traffic to alternative routes. The roadway was closed at 3:14 p.m. and reopened a little more than an hour later.

The American Red Cross opened an evacuation center at a church in Guthrie for those displaced, but it was closing after the evacuation order was lifted, spokesman Ken Garcia said Sunday night. Volunteers would continue providing food and drinks to fire crews working hot spots, he said.

State emergency management officials said that in addition to the Logan County fires, Pittsburg County officials reported a large grass fire that threatened homes near Gains Creek. Other fires were reported in Bryan, Grady, Love, Okmulgee, Pontotoc, Pushmataha and Washington counties.

Two Oklahoma Army National Guard helicopters were deployed to Logan County to help battle the fire near Meridian and a third one was dispatched to help firefighters in Pittsburg County.

Unseasonably warm temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds have created a high threat for wildfires in the state. Temperatures reached the low 60s and upper 70s across the state on Sunday, and winds gusted up to 30 mph.