Wildfires claim homes, towns

OKLAHOMA CITY – Grassfires raged across the dry southern prairie Sunday, burning homes in Oklahoma City, destroying two small towns in Texas, and creating patchworks of flames as burning embers were blown by winds gusting up 50 mph.

At least a dozen wildfires were burning across Oklahoma. In Texas, more than 20 fires sprang up, including a 22,400-acre blaze threatening 200 homes near Carbon, about 125 miles west of Dallas.

Crews flying over the Texas communities of Ringgold, a town of about 100 people near Wichita Falls, and tiny Kokomo, near Eastland, reported both had essentially been wiped out by flames, officials said.

In New Mexico, just across the Texas line, two dozen elderly residents were moved out of a nursing home in Hobbs, and a casino, community college and several neighborhoods were evacuated in the town of 29,000 as firefighters battled spreading grass fires at the edge of the city.

“Today has been extremely intense,” Fire Maj. Brian Stanaland said in Oklahoma City, where fire crews battled at least 19 flare-ups and the flames snake in long lines through dry areas.

Over the past week, sporadic blazes set off by arcing power lines, fireworks and other sparks igniting the dry landscape had already ravaged more than 50,000 acres, destroyed nearly 100 homes and killed four people in Texas and Oklahoma.

On Sunday, officials warned the extreme fire danger would continue into the new week while the dry, warm and gusty conditions were expected to continue.

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry urged people to avoid any kind of open flame, even so much as throwing a cigarette butt out a car window.

“We will overcome this challenge,” Henry assured residents in a televised news conference Sunday night as firefighters battled lines of flames across parts of Oklahoma City.

He said he had urged President Bush on Sunday to quickly approve a federal disaster declaration.

Two neighborhoods in the northeast part of Oklahoma City were evacuated, and several homes were in flames. One man suffered minor smoke inhalation after refusing to evacuate his home, Stanaland said. Firefighters later rescued the man in a field near his home.

Power lines had arced and sparked one grass fire in the city. While firefighters battled that blaze, high winds tossed material from a nearby construction site into power lines, causing the debris to ignite before it landed on a nearby nursing home, Stanaland said.

“You basically had flying, flaming debris,” Stanaland said. “Luckily, we were already on the scene putting out the fires when it happened, so we were able to put it out.”