Oklahoma wildfires destroy home and other structures, prompt arson investigation
Wildfires fueled by high winds and hot temperatures in Oklahoma destroyed structures, forced evacuations, and are now under investigation for possible arson.
High winds and hot temperatures fueled wildfires in Oklahoma, destroying a home, a railroad bridge, and other structures, while forcing evacuations and prompting an arson investigation.
Structures were lost, including a home, but no injuries were reported among residents. Some neighbors stepped in to help during the crisis.
“My district manager, he told me to take the day off tomorrow,” said Linda Wortman, a resident whose home was spared from the flames.
Wortman shared that her neighbor, Charlie, looked after her dogs while she was at work.
“Charlie has been a blessing, he went in there and he rescued another person’s dog, and he lives right behind me, he is totally an amazing man,” Wortman said.
Neighbors expressed relief as the smoke lingered in the area.
“The dogs are great, and everything else, Charlie let them out, and everything and put them back in, and everything is safe, so thank God for that,” Wortman said.
Hearst sister station KOCO captured images of billowing smoke on the southwest side of Oklahoma City as fire crews battled the grass fire near Northwest 10th Street and Mustang Plant Road.
“This morning, essentially all day, we had an air tactical unit here doing water drops; we had heavy equipment out here from public works — essentially just dug a massive fire line,” said Scott Douglas with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
Douglas said fire crews had just finished extinguishing another fire in the area earlier in the day when they were called to this new blaze. The fire consumed a home, damaged a car, two outbuildings, two RV trailers, and a large barn.
“This fire started about 50 to 60 yards south of where the first one started of the fire we extinguished earlier — which is suspicious in my mind because the winds are out of the south around 20-plus miles an hour,” Douglas said.
Douglas added that the new fire could not have been caused by embers or debris from the earlier blaze.
“You’re not going to have any embers or debris that’ll fight the wind like it is today. So that’s why our investigators are coming out,” Douglas said.
Arson investigators are now examining the fire to determine if it was a criminal act.
