Tulsa World: State's wildfire season busy

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State's wildfire season busy
Traditionally, it should end soon, but some fire officials say conditions could keep it going longer.

Source: National Interagency Fire Center

By GAVIN OFF World Data Editor
Published: 4/26/2009 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 4/26/2009 3:32 AM

As Oklahoma's wildfire season winds down, central and western portions of the state continue to feel the effects of a busy season and several recent large-scale blazes.

Eastern Oklahoma, on the other hand, escaped with an average season, said Mark Goeller, the assistant director of the Oklahoma Division of Forestry.

Although Oklahoma's wildfire season typically begins with the first freeze and ends when trees and pastures turn green, officials said drought and high winds could keep much of the state on alert.

Mike Karlin, the assistant fire chief of the Weatherford Fire Department, said, "It just seems that even with all the fire prevention efforts that we have and everything that everyone does to prevent fires, the numbers are still growing."

Karlin's department of 28 firefighters — half of whom are volunteers — helped battle a 53,000-acre blaze in early March near Taloga, in western Oklahoma.

The fire, which destroyed two mobile homes and killed about 500 cattle, was one of about 50 wildfires to which the Weatherford department has responded this year. That's about double the usual total with the wildfire season nearly over, Karlin said.

The Division of Forestry, meanwhile, was the primary responder to 1,374 fires that burned 76,293 acres this year, Goeller said. The division's firefighters oversee 6 million acres in 18 eastern Oklahoma counties and respond to wildfires outside their range only when local departments ask.

Goeller said the division

had responded to about 50 fires outside its territory this year, about five times more than in previous seasons.

"When we get called to go out, the fire's a lot bigger and is usually to the point where folks are struggling with control," he said.

Take April 9, for example.

That day saw at least 14 wildfires erupt across the state, burning more than 117,000 acres, according to a Tulsa World analysis of data from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

The fire center, staffed by personnel from eight federal agencies, is the country's support center for fighting wildfires.

The April 9 fires injured 62 people and damaged 269 structures, with 228 destroyed, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

The day's largest fire burned 56,688 acres just east of Loco in Stephens County. Data show that it was the largest wildfire in the country to be reported to the National Interagency Fire Center so far this year.

In fact, three of the six largest wildfires reported to the center so far this year have burned in Oklahoma, the World's analysis found.

"Even though things are greening up, you still have a lot of tall grass out there that's still dormant," said Lt. Gene Big Soldier of the Iowa Tribe Volunteer Fire Department. "I don't think we're out of the fire danger at all."

Big Soldier said his department is continuing to fight as many as two grass fires a day. He said those wildfires are eventually reported to tribal leaders and the federal government.

Many fires unreported

But not all of the state's wildfires are reported to the National Interagency Fire Center.

A spokesman for the center, Ken Frederick, said it collects data on most large wildfires.

But each year, thousands of wildfires — some of which consume thousands of acres - aren't reported.

That's because many small departments, some of which are volunteer only, don't have the technology or staff to compile and send the reports.

Goeller said he doubted that many of Oklahoma's more than 900 rural fire departments have the means to report wildfire information to the federal government.

In 2004, for example, the National Interagency Fire Center reported that about 58,700 acres burned in Oklahoma. That same year, the U.S. Forest Service reported that 70,700 acres burned in the state, the World found.

Goeller said both numbers are likely far from the real total, because this year a single fire burned nearly 57,000 acres.

Karlin, who sends Weatherford's wildfire information to the state fire marshal, said he would like a system that enables small departments to easily report blazes to federal officials.

Doing so could show how thinly stretched some smaller departments are, he said.

"I think it would be a big benefit for the Oklahoma fire departments when it comes to federal funding," said Karlin, whose department covers 188 square miles. "Our (wildfire) numbers look small, but it's actually another picture."

Goeller said the Division of Forestry reports its fires each year. It also reports immediately to the fire center any wildfire that burns more than 100 acres of timber, burns 300 acres of grassland or destroys a building.

Wildfire trends

Oklahoma wildfires reported to the U.S. Forest Service. The numbers reflect trends but are not exact, fire officials said.

Year	Fires	Acres
2003	1,986	102,594
2004	1,664	70,697
2005	2,490	163,708
2006	3,324	324,346
2007	3,558	90,420
2008	5,595	204,989

Gavin Off 732-8106
gavin.off@tulsaworld.com By GAVIN OFF World Data Editor

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "COMING SUNDAY: State wildfire numbers growing," which was published on 4/25/2009.

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CPT Ron, Lawton (4/25/2009 4:32:04 PM)

A reminder that building codes should be revised to require all homes to be fireproof, including the roof.

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