Wildfires Force Evacuations in Oklahoma City
02/01/2006| IslamWeb
Wildfires fueled by high temperatures and strong winds damaged several homes around Oklahoma City on Sunday and forced 15 to 20 families to evacuate as the flames neared their houses, officials said.
The fires were the latest to break out in the lower Great Plains, where months of drought have combined with unseasonably warm weather to turn the prairies in Oklahoma and Texas into tinderboxes.
Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel said his department had been on the scene of 19 fires on Sunday, but all were now either out or contained so they no longer threatened homes or businesses.
Since November 1, 250,000 acres had burned in Oklahoma, the State Emergency Operations Center said.
Temperatures on Sunday reached the 70s (21-25 C) in most of the state, well above normal highs for this time of year. Winds of 35 to 40 mph (56-64 kph) whipped across the plains, the National Weather Service said.
Neighboring Texas has also had numerous wildfires in the past week, including one that burned 90 homes in the small town of Cross Plains in north-central Texas. At least three people had died in the flames, officials said.
PHOTO CAPTION
A house and property burn during a grass fire near Guthrie, Oklahoma January 1, 2006. (REUTERS)