Wildfires in Oaklahoma and Texas kills 2, destroys neighborhoods

by Amy Judd | April 10, 2009 at 09:22 am

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Wildfires have raged through neighbourhoods in Oaklahoma and Texas, killing two people in Texas and injuring 34 in Oaklahoma. Over 100 homes have been destroyed in western and central Oaklahoma.

The fires started late yesterday afternoon along the side of Interstate 35 in Oaklahoma and they were still burning late into the night due to the dry bush and grass that lined the side of the road. Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood confirmed that over 100 homes had been affected.

The Interstate was back open on this morning.

Water-dropping helicopters couldn't assist the ground effort because of winds that gusted to more than 60 mph in some areas on Thursday.

"Anytime you have high winds and low humidity it's just the perfect storm for wildfires, and that's what's happening here," Ashwood said.

In the north of Texas, firefighters are still working to put out the fire, and some of the small towns have been evacuated. A firefighter in Oaklahoma City was sent to hospital with severe burns and a local reporter for WFAA-TV and his wife was killed when the fire ravaged their home.
Residents in Oaklahoma have congregated at the Midwest Community Center.
The winds are causing problems for the firefighters to extinguish the blaze.

"As far as winds are concerned, we're quite a bit weaker than on Thursday," said Scott Curl, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "We're seeing behind the cold front that's working through southeast part of the state that winds are out of the northwest at 15 to 25 mph.