Wednesday, April 18th 2018, 7:50 am
Wildfires continue to burn out of control Wednesday morning in western Oklahoma, and the winds are moving smoke from those fires into the Tulsa area right now.
Emergency managers say the largest is the Rhea Fire which has burned more than 248,000 acres so far. The 34 Complex Fire has burned more than 67,000 acres. Firefighters from Green Country are leaving to help in western Oklahoma.
Osage County Emergency Management says nine firefighters in five trucks will be heading to Weatherford. They'll leave from the Fairfax fire station at 6 a.m. Wednesday, April 18.
That's just one of many examples of area firefighters who are answering the call to help.
Firefighters say they will stay for either 48 hours or 72 hours depending on the need. The fires have killed two people so far including a man who was trying to fight the flames.
4/17/2018 Related Story: Wildfires Continue To Ravage Western Parts Of Oklahoma
The National Weather Service issued an evacuation order for an area near the towns of Seiling and Oakwood, in Dewey County. At least four tanker aircraft were deployed to conduct water drops on the fires.
All highway closures due to wild fires are now open in the state. However, motorists are advised to continuing using caution in these areas in case fires rekindle and to not drive into smoke.
US-270 is closed between the US-270/SH-33 junction and Seiling. Traffic is detoured on SH-33 & US-183.
SH-51 between US-270 and Canton is closed
April 18th, 2018
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