Firefighters Work To Put Out Wildfires In Osage County Threatening Nearby Homes

Flames continued to spread across Osage County after a wildfire broke out Tuesday afternoon. Emergency officials said flames had burned an area about 11 miles long and one mile wide, stretching from Wynona, OK to Pawhuska, OK. 

It was a long Tuesday night for fire crews working in Osage County as flames roared through much of the dry grass and brush.

Planes made several drops of flame retardant to fight the fires from the sky, but from the ground they continued to grow.

"You could just feel the heat like you were in front of a bonfire," said Ron Coday. 

Coday has lived in Pawhuska his entire life. He was spending the day in Bartlesville when he heard the fire was moving toward his home.

"All my friends were calling me so I rushed back over here and of course you know the wind was blowing, and we could see the smoke coming this way and it just got thicker and thicker," he said. 

Flames and smoke inched closer to his home near Skyline Drive and Farrell Avenue, "it was burnt all the way around my house," Coday said. 

While his home was okay, others weren't. Osage County Emergency Management said three homes burned overnight, two of them were abandoned. 

After hours of putting out the flames, the threat wasn't over.

"We're burning some pockets that's still inside and are cutting a lot of trees that are old dead trees that's on fire and they're just dropping them, so the embers won't blow back," said Jerry Roberts with Osage County Emergency Management. 

As crews continued to work, Coday thanked them for saving the place he's always called home.

"Thank goodness they saved all these houses, they saved Pawhuska," he said.

Osage County Emergency Management said they would work overnight to contain the fire, and they'll continue to drop fire retardant as necessary. They also said incoming rain could make all the difference when fighting the fire. 

A Red Cross station is set up at the Osage County fairgrounds. Volunteers helped feed nearly 700 firefighters on Tuesday and continued to help on Wednesday.