Oklahoma Under Critical National Fire Advisory

Oklahoma is under a critical national fire advisory for the next two weeks. A National agency issued the advisory, which shows much of the state has an above normal potential for wildfires.

You can not only see how dry it is, but you can also hear it with every step; the drought has gotten so bad a new fire advisory is out, one that's never been issued in the state of Oklahoma before.

Mark Goeller is the fire management chief for Oklahoma forestry services. It’s his job to study the weather each day and look for patterns that might bring a potential for fire danger.

“We have been in kind of a long-term drought,” he said. “The past two days were very busy.”

Goeller considers things like drought, amount of fire fuel, winds and humidity. He said, right now, the conditions are troubling.

“It's time to go ahead and start notifying people that we're not in a normal situation, not a normal spring,” he said.

The National Interagency Fire Center issued a fuels and fire behavior advisory Tuesday. The advisory isn't a burn ban, but a way to get the word out there is a high fire danger in almost the entire state.

2/1/2017 Related Story: National Fire Advisory Issued For Drought-Stricken Oklahoma

Goeller said, “We are in an abnormal situation.”

It also notifies out-of-state agencies they might be needed and it gives them an idea what that they could face when they get here.

“Any fire that starts, number one, it's gonna have a lot of fuel to burn,” said Goeller.

We can all do our part to help out by avoiding things outside that might cause a spark - like cookouts, burning brush piles or flicking a cigarette.

But, should a fire start, Goeller's team will be ready.

“We can pre-position equipment personnel, aircraft and figure out where the most likely places would that people would need help,” he said.

The fire advisory is in effect until February 14th but could be extended depending on the weather conditions.