Multiple Wildfires Whip Up Across Northeast Oklahoma

<p>Wildfires across Green Country are keeping firefighters busy.&nbsp;</p>

Wednesday, January 31st 2018, 5:59 pm

By: News On 6


Wildfires across Green Country are keeping firefighters busy. 

A wildfire fueled by warm temperatures and shifting winds has burned at least 200 acres in Mayes County.

The first call for this fire came in at 1:30 Wednesday morning and almost 16 hours later, it was still going.

It is the largest fire Mayes County has dealt with so far this year and it is taking a crew of dozens to battle it.

"It is a heavily wooded area and there is not a lot you can do other than get on foot and with dozers … they are the best thing for fighting some of these fires," said Michael Dunham with Mayes County Emergency Management. 

Dunham said the Forestry Service has at least 3 dozers working to tear up the dirt and stop the fire from spreading

“Then they do back burns and back burns are when they burn from their line backward and stop the fire from spreading any further by burning up fuel," Dunham said. 

The smoke was thick and flames were still burning in many areas, but luckily no homes are in danger at this point.

"We can burn up some trees but we don't want houses or vehicles getting lost and that's our main concern … making sure people are safe and property safe,” Dunham said. 

And during this time of year, firefighters know you have to be ready for anything. 

“We were just labeled a moderate fire danger this morning but we have just been working with everyone to make sure things don't get out of hand," Dunham said. 

Firefighters were only focused on controlling the fire so they aren't sure at this point what exactly caused it or if it was intentionally set.

Firefighters near Grove worked to put out a large grass fire. 

A task force of crews was on the scene of the fire.

They met at the Grove fire station late Wednesday afternoon before heading out to battle the flames.

And another wildfire happened in LeFlore County.

The Oklahoma Forestry Service took these new pictures of brush burning.

The agency said with our wind gusts, new wildfires that spark could spread 15 to 25 feet per minute.

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