Oklahoma Forestry Service prepares for high risk for wildfires

Forecasted weather conditions have put Oklahoma’s firefighters on alert for Friday.

The Oklahoma Forestry Service says its roughly 100 firefighters will be prepared to work with local departments, likely in parts of central and western Oklahoma.

Preparing for any outcome

“We look at three things: a change in the fuels, the weather, or the topography,” said Mark Goeller, director of the Oklahoma Forestry Service. “And so that is where experience in wildland fire control comes into play, where we can observe the total fire environment, see where those changes may occur regards to a change in the fuel type, maybe a change in the topography where the fire may be burning up a slight hill and then it takes crest the hill and starts to burn down.”

Crews and equipment from the agency are currently staged in Woodward and Guthrie. An out-of-state team, through the help of the South Central Forest Fire Compact, is coming from Arkansas and will stage in Weatherford.

“We complement each other in regard to what we can do,” Goeller said. “We can do a lot of the stuff that's off the roads, out in the fields, where a fire department can’t normally operate. That's where we can go into play, and then we can utilize the fire departments and their skills in structure protection.”

If fires break out on Friday, Goeller said resources can quickly become strained. That, he says, illustrates the importance of homeowners having a plan for evacuating and taking basic steps to defend their home against a wildfire.

Homeowners have a role, too

“Take some precautions now,” he said. “Take any flammable lawn furniture or anything that's up against the house that could catch fire, that would spread the fire to the structure, move that away. Make sure you have at least 30 feet of the vegetation clear, and the grass is mowed down, and that leaves are away from the house. Anything that's accumulated close to the structure that could catch fire from blowing embers, get that moved away and clean up around the house.”

Two super scooper planes are also currently staged in Burns Flat. Goeller also said his agency is able to lean on federal partners, depending on the severity of any fires.

He also asks drone pilots not to fly near wildfires because drones can interfere with air support operations and ground or injure pilots and air crews.