Fire rages northeast of Woodward

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Photo by Rowynn Ricks

April 4, 2008

A wildfire that raged northeast of Woodward Thursday created a lot of black smoke as it consumed cedar trees like these that were in its path. The fire started as a controlled burn, Woodward Fire Marshal Todd Finley said. “We’re not sure what made it go out of control,” he said.

However, once out of control, high winds spurred the blaze on so that at times it was spreading at around 30 mph. By the time firefighters got the blaze under control again, Finley said it had burned a swath of land around two miles long and half a mile wide. As it burned the blaze threatened a number of homes and flames did get to within 50 or so feet of one house, Finley said.

A number of fire departments responded to help fight the blaze, Finley said, including Fargo, Fort Supply, Gage, Mooreland, Mutual, Sharon, Taloga, Vici and Harper County. Both Harper County and Woodward County Sheriff’s Offices responded to the scene as did the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. In addition, the Red Cross offered its services and support to the firefighters.

Woodward County Commissioners also did their part by providing men and equipment such as road graters to cut fire breaks.

Finley said it was fortunate that just prior to being called out to the fire a number of officials from Woodward and several other area counties were participating in a wildland training class at High Plains Technology Center, where they were learning how to use heavy equipment to help in battling wildfires.

“We went straight from the classroom to the scene,” Finley said. “And it worked really well.”

With Thursday’s fire being just one of many wildfires fought by area fire departments recently, Finley noted that they did have some fire apparatus break down. However, he noted that most were up and running again by Thursday evening.

“All these grass fires are really taking a toll on all these departments,” he said. “You go on these large grass fires so many times and equipment starts breaking down.” Right now, he said the departments just need some time to recover. “Hopefully we’ll get some rain soon,” Finley said.