Structures, Land Destroyed In Logan County Grass Fires

Several wildfires destroyed homes and changed lives here in Oklahoma. At one point Sunday, six nearby counties had wildfires burning.

There are dozens of hay bales still burning late Sunday night. The Guthrie Fire Chief says the fires were rekindled from a grass fire from Saturday.

Winter fire season is well under way. Several grass fires broke out Sunday afternoon in parts of Logan County, forcing about 20 homes to evacuate.

"When things are dead like this, they burn with the great intensity, especially when you couple them with the wind, the heat and the low humidity like we've got today," said Guthrie Fire Chief Eric Harlow.

Harlow says roughly 1,200 to 1,500 acres in Logan County were on fire. Crews from all the metro moved in to help put out the growing the flames. But not before, several vacant structures, some cattle and at least 500 hay bales were lost.

1/12/2014 Related Story: Oklahoma Firefighters Battle Multiple Grass Fires

James and Maxine Towle came from home from church to find much of their 160 acres on fire. Their barn, tractor and pickup truck all burned.

"Pretty tough, I put a lot of labor into that bar. I built it from nothing you know," said James Towle.

The couple has had their home since 1951 and said they had never seen a fire hit their area.

"It was really scary, because I didn't know that the fire had burned all the way to the house; had burned all around the house to the brick," Towle said.

The Towle's home is still without power after the fire knocked out a pole. They expect these thick hay bales will be burning for the next couple days.

Several fire crews are still in Logan County working into the night, keeping an eye on if the wind shifts. Evacuees have been allowed to go back to their homes.