OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Wildfires in Oklahoma so far this month have burned more than sixty times the average acreage, according to data from the Oklahoma Forestry Services.
Since 2005, the state has averaged 454 acres burned from May wildfires. So far this month, more than 30,000 acres have burned, The Oklahoman reported Sunday (https://bit.ly/1sHEjAq ).
Guthrie Fire Chief Eric Harlow says that if things don’t change, fire crews will be in for a long summer.
“We shouldn’t have this fire behavior the first week of May,” he said.
State climatologist Gary McManus said that while drought conditions are most extreme in the Panhandle, western and southwestern portions of the state, all of Oklahoma is in dire need of precipitation. Statewide year-to-date rainfall on May 4 was more than 6 inches below average, making it the second driest period on record since 1921, according to weather data collected by Oklahoma Mesonet monitoring stations.
During the same period that the rainfall data was collected, 17 Mesonet locations reached triple-digit temperatures - the highest count ever this early in the year, McManus said.
A number of wildfires were sparked across the state during that time period. If spring rainfall totals don’t increase and heat sets in, the potential for extreme wildfire danger could rise.
“It’s really generated the perfect conditions for a bad wildfire breakout,” McManus said. “Of course, that doesn’t happen every time. There has to be a spark.”
A wildfire earlier this month in Logan County burned 3,250 acres southeast of Guthrie, destroying or damaging 60 properties and killing one person. And two ranchers were critically burned in a fire in Woodward County that scorched about 13,700 acres this month.
Both fires were likely started accidentally, investigators said.
“That tells you how volatile conditions are here,” said Matt Lehenbauer, Woodward County emergency management director. “If such a small spark can start a fire, that’s definitely concerning.”
Another fire in the Mooreland-Quinlan area has burned about 14,100 acres. An investigation into its origin was not requested, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
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Information from: The Oklahoman, https://www.newsok.com
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