Guthrie Family Hit By Fire Twice In One Month

Michael Konopasek, News 9

GUTHRIE, Oklahoma – Labor Day was another busy day for firefighters despite some rain over the holiday weekend. Monday afternoon, a wildfire sparked just north of Guthrie, leaving one family hit by Mother Nature twice in just one month.

9/5/2011 Related Story: Guthrie Grass Fires Contained.

Instead of golden brown grass from a lack of rain, about 150 acres near Guthrie are now black, scorched from the latest wildfire.

The flames came very close to a few homes, but left the homes untouched.

"[The firefighters] stopped [the fire] right on the other side of the [small hill], so it got pretty close to the house," said Guthrie homeowner Jeff Miller.

The crews stopped the fire twenty feet away from the Miller's front door. At the time the fire was heading toward a destructive path near Guthrie, the Millers were recovering from previous destruction. Another fire burnt 1,200 acres of their land in western Oklahoma last month.

The news on Monday had them putting their car in high gear.

"I got here in about an hour and a half," said Miller. "It's usually a 2-hour drive."

Firefighters tackled the fire before it had a chance to get out of their control.

"We got lucky on the south end of the fire," said Guthrie fire Chief Eric Harllow. "We had units in place to stop it before it jumped the road."

Fortunately for the Millers, when they arrived home, they still had a home.

"We're lucky we had good neighbors that came over and gathered up all of the livestock and the dogs and moved them off the property," said Miller.

In all, two homes were evacuated. Crews had the fire taken care of about an hour and a half after it started.

Investigators believe a lawn mower sparked the fire. They say the fire was stopped just before it hit a thick area of grassland. Nearly every fire department in Logan County responded to the call Monday afternoon. Fire officials say most of the land that burnt was not used for farming.