Wildfire threatens but stops short

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An airplane dumps water on a fire that burned for nearly a mile south of Oktaha on Thursday evening. The cause of the fire, which started in McIntosh County and moved rapidly north into Muskogee County, has not been determined. No burned structures or injuries were reported. Staff photo by Wendy Burton
Rob Hickock, with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, talks with a pilot flying overhead preparing to dump water on the fire south of Oktaha. Staff photo by Wendy Burton

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August 17, 2012

Wildfire threatens but stops short

Firefighters, wind shift keeps fire from homes

By Wendy Burton Phoenix Staff Writer The Muskogee Phoenix Fri Aug 17, 2012, 12:00 AM CDT

— OKTAHA — Neighbors gathered together on a hill and watched anxiously as a large fired burned on the other side of a small valley.

“I’ve already set stuff by the door, ready to go,” said Stacey Hyslope of Oktaha. “We’re prepared to cut the fences and let the horses and cows go too.”

The fire started late Thursday afternoon in McIntosh County, approximately 3/4 of a mile due east of Rentiesville and south of the Honey Springs Battlefield. It was pushed north rapidly by strong winds, jumping several roads along the way, said McIntosh County Emergency Manager Wesley Dawson.

“At first it was thought a tractor and brush hog started it,” Dawson said. “But that has since been cleared up, and we don’t know what caused the fire at this time.”

By 5 p.m., the BIA called in airplanes to drop water on the fire, 1,200 gallons at a time.

Air support was provided on the ground by Rob Hickock with the BIA. Hickock said the fire was about 6/10 of a mile long and 1/4 of a mile wide.

Neither Hyslope nor any of her neighbors had to evacuate, because a storm front moved in about 7 p.m. and began shifting the winds, officials said.

Firefighters from nearly every department in Muskogee County were on hand, some deep in the woods with Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Forestry equipment fighting the fire, many others standing on the hill ready to battle if the fire made it into the pasture below.

James Hill said the home nearby where firefighters and onlookers gathered belongs to his aunt.

And he was grateful there were so many firefighters there, he said. The home is only a year old — it burned down almost exactly a year ago after it was struck by lightning.

A fire on the other side of the pasture below burned for hours, but never moved past the tree line.

By about 8 p.m. Muskogee County Emergency Management Director Jeff Smith said things were looking much better.

“We are getting it contained at this time,” Smith said. “We do have some pump and rollers from both counties here still, but we’re sending a lot of departments back now.”

Dawson estimated the fire burned about 1,000 acres.

Neither Dawson nor Smith heard reports of injuries or structures that were burned, they said.

Reach Wendy Burton at (918) 684-2926 or wburton@muskogeephoenix.com.

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Wildfire threatens but stops short

Firefighters, wind shift keeps fire from homes

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