Tagged: wildfires

It has been a month since wildfires swept through Creek County destroying nearly 400-homes. The clock is ticking on a matching grant offer to help the Red Cross. The grant comes from the Loebeck-Taylor Foundation.

Elizabeth Frame Ellison is the executive director.  She says there are two weeks left on the grant offer. She is pleased with donations to date. You may make a donation at any Bank of Oklahoma location or send a check to the American Red Cross in Tulsa.

The foundation is that of former Mayor Kathy Taylor and her husband Bill Loebeck.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gov. Mary Fallin has requested federal disaster aid for four Oklahoma counties where wildfires have erupted in recent weeks.

Fallin sought the aid Monday for residents and business owners in Cleveland, Creek, Oklahoma and Payne counties. If granted, the government would deliver individual assistance to residents who suffered losses.

Nearly 680 homes and businesses were damaged in the fires that began on July 28, including 603 homes that were destroyed. About 85 percent of the homes damaged or destroyed were not insured.

This is the first day for teachers in the Mannford School District to report for duty. It was just over a week ago that a huge wildfire swept through the community. It is estimated that 70-students in the district lost their homes in the fires along with five staff members.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Forestry Services is warning of an increasing potential for extreme wildfires across the state.

State Forester George Geissler says conditions for wildfires to get out of control are increasing because of dry grasslands and hayfields coupled with the ongoing drought, heat and strong winds.

The agency says today will be especially dangerous with the fire danger very high the western half of the state and high in the eastern half.

The agency advises that fires can be started by common activities such as mowing the lawn or baling hay.