Oklahoma: August 2012 Archives

Oklahoma continues under a statewide burn ban. Today, August 4, 2012, is another red flag alert day -- high winds, low humidity, high temperatures, and extreme drought combine to increase the chance of wildfires spreading out of control.

Northeastern Oklahoma is also under an excessive heat warning, with temperatures expected to top 110.

Firefighters are trying to contain wildfires in western Creek County (between Oilton and Mannford), eastern Cleveland County (south of Lake Thunderbird), eastern Oklahoma County near Luther, and elsewhere in the state.

I have been unable to find up-to-date official sources of information about the wildfires, and news outlets seem stale as well. Yesterday the Turner Turnpike was closed near Luther because of smoke from the fires; the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority tweeted late last night that it had been reopened, then tweeted that it hadn't, then tweeted that it had been reopened. But at least the OTA bothered to communicate via Twitter.

A news conference a few minutes ago reported that the fire near Mannford covers about 78 square miles and that the following roads remain closed:

State Highway 33 from State Highway 48 to State Highway 99
State Highway 51 from State Highway 48 to State Highway 99
State Highway 99 from State Highway 51 to State Highway 33
State Highway 48 from State Highway 51 to State Highway 33

A press release from the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office that seems to be official, although it's not on the OCSO website, says firefighters are continuing to put out hotspots in the Luther fire, which suggests (although they don't explicitly say so) that it's under control.

I have been unable to find an up-to-date, comprehensive list of roads closed due to wildfires. The Department of Public Safety road conditions page, used during winter weather, hasn't been touched since June 22.

There are some unofficial sources of information:

The Twitter hashtag is #okfire. The Oklahoma Crisis Mappers team has set up a crowdsourced Oklahoma fire map.

This Google map of the eastern Cleveland County wildfire is marked to reflect radio transmissions from the Cleveland County Fire Department.