A wildfire outbreak in Lincoln County last Friday burned an estimated several hundred acres and destroyed a barn and an outbuilding, but no residential structures were apparently damaged.
There were no reported injuries either, he said. Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Cody McDonell said, “We had 13 fire calls on Friday. Most of them were small, but there were two significant ones,” McDonell noted.
“One was the Bell Cow Creek Fire near Bell Cow Lake that burned an estimated 285 acres.” He said there were 10 fire departments involved in fighting that fire and help from Payne County who brought a large water tender.
The Sandy Creek Fire at Tryon was also significant, he said, but was a little smaller, burning 101 acres and no structures were lost.
“Our dispatch center and firefighters did a wonderful job,” McDonell emphasized.
“The dispatch center normally has two working and had four working at one point,” he added.
“All of the fire departments throughout the county I believe worked at least one fire,” he said.
McDonell pointed out, “At one point, the Pittsburg County Task Force was headed our way to assist us in Lincoln County, but we were able to back them off,” he said.
There were no task forces available on Friday, he thought. “Very few counties were able to send units to help others because of the wildfire outbreak,” McDonell stated.
He said the cause of the fires in Lincoln County hadn’t been determined, but that low humidity, dead grass and high winds contributed to them.
“With low humidity the cedar trees seem to explode because of all the oil in them. At one point on the Bell Cow Creek Fire we had three or four spot fires going,” McDonell mentioned.
He said the Lincoln County Wild Land Task Force went to Logan County both Saturday and Sunday to assist with the Simpson Fire there.
“All of these firefighters with the exception of a few are volunteers,” he said. “The dedication of these guys and gals is always incredible.”