OK wildfires

[David Drummond]

I know yesterday was one of the worst chase days I ever had because of the fires. By late afternoon I was sneezing my head off, my eyes were completely bloodshot from all the smoke and I was have quite a bit of breathing distress. Seemed no matter where I went, I couldn't get away from it, even in areas it was raining.

Until you have driven through large parts of Oklahoma (and even SE KS) you just don't get your head around how widespread the recent fires have been. It was difficult to drive 25 miles without seeing a burnt area. Some were still smoldering from recent fires, some were older, yet others were active fires.

It was very eerie coming down the Turner Turnpike last night and all of a sudden being surrounded by smoke and glowing embers on both sides of the road.

 

[Michael O'Keeffe]

Well David I know in Kansas and parts of Oklahoma farmer's burn the fields every March and April because it puts nutrients in the ground which is better for farming and healthier for cows and livestock. I actually thought most of those fires we saw in NE Oklahoma yesterday was just a farmer burning the fields, until somebody said it was a wildfire.

 

[David Drummond]

I'm pretty sure there is a state wide burn ban in effect right now (in TX/OK not sure about KS because of drought, so there won't be any set fires (or shouldn't be). Not to mention most of what I saw wasn't fields at all.

EDIT: I was just completely SHOCKED to learn OK does NOT have a statewide burn ban in effect according to http://www.forestry.ok.gov/burn-ban-information and in fact very few counties actually have one. Either way, I have chased these areas early season many, many times before and never saw anything like what I saw yesterday.

 

[Michael O'Keeffe]

I'm pretty sure there is a state wide burn ban in effect right now (in TX/OK not sure about KS because of drought, so there won't be any set fires (or shouldn't be). Not to mention most of what I saw wasn't fields at all.

Your probably right because there is quite a bit of drought down in Oklahoma. I was thinking that too and there was a Red Flag Warning in effect the few days prior and the day of. So now that I think about it this was one of the worst and most widespread wildfires I have ever seen outside of the Plains! Is it really THAT dry in Oklahoma. It is nice to see the potential for an inch or two of rain this weekend over all of Oklahoma and the TX Panhandle!!

 

[Angie Norris]

I tried to get a picture of the weird sunlight color coming into our living room, this in the first minute that I suspected something weird was going on in Oklahoma, but the picture shows much more neutral colors than I remember. I wonder if my camera (Pentax A20) is automatically white balancing. If so I may have to contemplate shutting off that "feature" and white balance in Photoshop if I really need it.

Tim

Yeah, that picture doesn't show the color at all. I'd call it sort of a translucent caramel color. I shot about a roll of stills (yep, still using the 35mm SLR). If anything comes out showing it I'll figure out how to post it.

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Yeah, that picture doesn't show the color at all. I'd call it sort of a translucent caramel color.

I went digging through the menus on that camera and I found a setting "White Balance: Automatic". Oh well, I figured something out and now I know to shut it off next time.

By late afternoon I was sneezing my head off, my eyes were completely bloodshot from all the smoke and I was have quite a bit of breathing distress. Seemed no matter where I went, I couldn't get away from it, even in areas it was raining.

Interestingly we caught the brunt of the smoke from the Lindsay fire. It was to the point where you could smell smoke all afternoon, and strangely enough Shannon and my kid both woke up this morning with sore throats and feeling like crap but recovering rather quickly during the day. Fortunately they're better, but at risk of the questionable cause fallacy I suspect the smoke had something to do with this.

Tim

 

[David Drummond]

I think you are right Tim. I've felt like that pretty much all day today.

 

[Elinor McLennon]

David is right....the Turner Turnpike was eerie. We had no idea how bad things were in OKC until we came back down the turnpike. It was mind blowing. My daughter was playing a soccer game just east of Choctaw(about 3 miles from the fire). Several kids got sick from smoke inhalation and missed school the next day. The players on the field were ash covered when they called off the game. The soccer coach refused to evacuate when ordered by an official from Harrah/Choctaw.
It took 3 Harrah police cars to convince him to get the kids on the bus and evacuate immediately. I was furious!!!!
SERIOUSLY, how important is a soccer game? I bet if it was his family out there he would have evacuated immediately! Plus, those 3 police units could have been assisting others in desperate need of help.
We drove through some of the neighborhoods yesterday and the one thing that blew my mind was the damage.....one house burned to the ground and the 2 on either side were fine....not even a blade of grass burned. Go figure!!! We saw that in several areas. Then to see the homes where the lawn was burned right up to the foundation/walls of the house was amazing. The firemen did a great job.

 

[Angie Norris]

Interestingly we caught the brunt of the smoke from the Lindsay fire. It was to the point where you could smell smoke all afternoon, and strangely enough Shannon and my kid both woke up this morning with sore throats and feeling like crap but recovering rather quickly during the day. Fortunately they're better, but at risk of the questionable cause fallacy I suspect the smoke had something to do with this.

Tim

My allergies had been acting up since the blowing dust from last Sunday, but it's gotten more intense since the fires. Don't know what it was that's wrecking the havoc with my respiratory system, but I hope the rain settles it down a bit.

 

[Robert Rohloff]

David, the state recently changed the burn ban and it is now up to the counties to put a ban on burning. The ban is only good for 7 days I think and they have to reissue to keep it going.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Living through many fires here in Southern California, I know what all of you are going through. Just hang in there and have more than one evacuation route. All will eventually subside.

 

[Shane Adams]

I talked to my little brother last night, who works on a pulling unit in southern Oklahoma. He said they were evacuated Thursday near Tatums, OK as a fire approached their location. He said they could see the smoke approaching, but didn't realize how rapidly it was getting to them until they started getting ash and embers raining down on them...at that point they all jumped into the crew truck and took off. However, they forgot to shut the rig down and decided to go back to do it....he said there was a wall of flames around four feet high racing towards them, and the heat was so intense it "felt like my face was melting off"....they were able to shut down the rig and get to safety.

 

[Chris C Sanner]

Here are several pictures from around the Velma area, I called off the storm chase to get back to the family...quite a bit of property loss in Velma.

Fire burns just over a ridge to the South of Town after it had burned all the way into the middle of town, narrowly missing destroying City Hall, the School and dozens of homes.

Just another day on the 'job' for these volunteers.

These guys had been on the job for almost 42 hours at this point and were physically and emotionally exhausted, you could just tell they needed a break.

A burned out home west of Velma, OK.

A two story home in town (one of 14 homes burned) completely destroyed.

The farthest inside the town the fire made it...this house and several outbuildings were completely destroyed by the fire.

 

[Chris Sokol]

Thursday was...well, incredible. I spent about 12 hours out before Wellston IC released us (we were toned out with Wellston for the initial response). At one point I was surrounded by fire as the line blew through. I really thought for a bit that we were going to loose the town of Wellston, but somehow we made a stop at 66. When the fire raced northward and jumped I-44 is when the Iowa Tribe fireman was burned...he high-centered his brush truck and tried to save it instead of bailing. A bit scratched and a couple of small burns for me...just reminders of an incredible day on the line.

 

[Connor McCrorey]

Chasing today, we went through Montague County and saw a cow that had been "cooked" in the fires. Never thought I would see that...