The high heat and little to no rain over the past several weeks have exacerbated the fire situation in Lincoln County.
Fire departments and Emergency Management have recorded an increase in fire calls compared to previous years.
The Lincoln County Commissioners approved a burn ban last Wednesday. The ban is set to last until the Commissioners’ first meeting in September, at which time they’ll reassess.
There are 45 of 77 counties in Oklahoma currently under a burn ban, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Service.
Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Charlotte Brown said on Aug. 20 that due to dry conditions, they’ve had 16 reported grassfires in the previous 12 days. According to Mesonet’s U.S. Drought Monitor, Lincoln County is still under level D2, or severe drought conditions. Temperatures are forecast to be just under 100 through the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service. Chandler Fire Chief Bobby Buchanan said his department had seven fire calls from Aug. 17 to Aug. 20, which is more than usual.
“There’s definitely an increase in fires from previous years in our area,” he said. “It’s specifically due to the severe drought situation, the extreme heat, no rain, low humidity.”
Up until recently, Buchanan said most of the fires were started by farm equipment or equipment failure, though right after the ban was put in place, they responded to a suspicious fire at an abandoned growth facilityWednesday night and a grass fire on Thursday that resulted in an arrest.
Wellston Fire ChiefTodd Beesley said the only thing that has really saved his district from too many fires has been the low wind, though there’s definitely been an uptick over the last several weeks.
“Because everything is so dry, if there was a breeze, we would have a significant fire,” he said. “We’ve been lucky, but it’s, I mean, I just told my mom the other day, it’s a tinderbox.”
He added that it would take a significant amount of rain to make a difference.
Chandler Chief Buchanan said Lincoln County is currently in what the fire chief association calls “war days.”
“It’s a wildland response. So what that entails is, any fire that is recorded, three departments are automatically dispatched no matter what -- the three bordering departments -- just to get rapid response to these fires,” he said.
Adding to the complication is the difficulty of fighting fires in extreme heat. Both Buchanan and Beesley said it’s challenging. It takes a great toll on the body, and heat exhaustion can happen quickly. Buchanan encourages his firefighters to start hydrating early and to continually drink water throughout the day, whether they’re on a call or not.
“It helps to retain fluid throughout the day,” he said. “So, you put the gear on and get into the fire situation and around the heat of the equipment, I mean, you’re talking 135 degrees sometimes that they’re exposed to for a substantial amount of time.”
Beesley said that, additionally, what most people don’t take into consideration is that most of the firefighters in the county are volunteers with day jobs that they go to when they’re not fighting fires.
Both chiefs said their departments are fairly good on resources, though they will always take donations. Buchanan said Chandler could use hydration packets to utilize in water and non-perishable food items like nuts. Beesley said the Wellston Fire Department will always accept donations of water or sports drinks at either City Hall or the station.
EM Director Brown said her department will also accept donations of water, Gatorade, single electrolyte drink mixes, eye drops, individually wrapped snacks, Chapstick and baby wipes that they distribute to all the fire departments throughout the county.
Brown said that as far as fire prevention, they ask that people be mindful of land management and vehicle/equipment management.
“There are a number of reasons why these fires happen. Fires can be caused from rekindles of previous burns, field equipment or vehicles catching fire in tall grass or lit cigarettes through from the car window,” she said.
Beelsey added to keep debris away from homes and the lawn mowed, as well as follow the burn ban and stay fire-aware. He said that while they haven’t had any this year yet, Wellston has seen several fires in the past started by hay balers, so farmers should be extra vigilant while out in the fields.
Buchanan recommended making sure that there aren’t any chains or other items dragging from vehicles while on roadways, as well as keeping property maintained and cleaned up. He also said that people should stay away from fires if they see one.
“So many people that see smoke and see what’s going on and want to rush out there,” he said. “Keeping road access and driveways clear so the vehicles can respond properly without any kind ofincidenthappening…is really, really important.”