Oklahoma Wildfires Kill One, Prompt Additional Evacuations

High Winds Increase Wildfire Danger in Southwest

Wind-driven wildfires were sparked Thursday in multiple areas of Oklahoma, and those fires continued to grow Friday.
Authorities ordered the evacuation of approximately 1,400 residents as the flames advanced.
Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for 52 counties to dedicate more resources to the firefight.

One person has died as wildfires across Oklahoma continued to grow Friday, prompting authorities to order additional evacuations.

According to an incident report, a 61-year-old man died Thursday in Roger Mills County, a result of injuries sustained in one of the numerous fires that have erupted in the Sooner state.

Oklahoma Forestry Services announced mandatory evacuations for the towns of Seiling, Taloga and Putnam Friday afternoon because of an advancing wildfire. Seiling residents were instructed to drive north or east to get away from the blaze, while the other two towns were told to evacuate southward.

Dewey County Sheriff Clay Sander said deputies went door-to-door, urging residents to heed warnings, the Associated Press reports.

"Your property is not worth your life," Sander said. "Evacuate and leave it to the firefighters."

The fires were responsible for claiming more than 210 square miles of land on Thursday, according to the Oklahoman, and those conflagrations continued to grow Friday, exceeding 800 square miles destroyed by Friday evening. Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for 52 counties in the Sooner State as a response to the fires.

"Unfortunately, Mother Nature's not throwing us any good pitches so we're having to deal with what she sends us, which is unfortunately not going to be any real recovery time in the overnight hours," Guthrie Fire Department Chief Eric Harlow told Fox Oklahoma City. "Usually the humidity will come back up, but unfortunately it looks like we're in for another couple days of the same conditions."

(FORECAST: Critical Fire Weather Conditions in Southwest and Southern Rockies)

The largest group of fires, named the 34 Complex Fire, burned more than 485 square miles and several homes by Friday afternoon in northwestern Oklahoma's Woodward County, the Oklahoman also said.

Several homes were destroyed near Woodward, Woodward County Emergency Management Director Matt Lehenbaur told the Associated Press. Some 450 people have been evacuated from their Woodward County homes, Lehenbaur also said.

Late Thursday afternoon, authorities ordered an evacuation in Woodward County in northwest Oklahoma, according to the Woodward News. That was due to a pair of large fires, one of which was apparently started by a downed power line. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol subsequently shut down State Highway 34.

Fire destroyed two barns and a home after downed power lines ignited a cotton gin in Dill City, KWTV reported.

Evacuations were ordered Thursday night for the small town of Mutual, Oklahoma, located in Woodward County. According to reports, a wildfire was rapidly moving northward about two miles south of the town of less than 100.

The wildfires encroached upon the Oklahoma City metro area, as KWTV reported a wildfire in the far northwestern suburbs.

A large inferno in western Oklahoma, dubbed the Rhea Fire, burned more than 331 square miles in Dewey County and is 0 percent contained, Oklahoma Forestry Services spokeswoman Michelle-Finch Walker told the AP.

Authorities searched for a missing hunter who was with two other people when he vanished in the smoke-filled area, according to a separate report from the Oklahoman. The hunter, identified as Terry Burleson, 54, was found Friday morning and transported to a local hospital, the Dewey County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.

The Rhea Fire has destroyed one home, the report added.

"Critical or extremely critical fire weather conditions are possible again Friday in southwestern and central Oklahoma, western Texas, southern New Mexico and southern Arizona," said weather.com meteorologist Brian Donegan.

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