Pawnee County Firefighters Hoping For Fire-Free Weekend

<p>After 48 long hours on the job, Pawnee County emergency crews are finally able to pack it up and call it a night.</p>

Friday, February 19th 2016, 11:11 pm

By: News On 6

Pawnee County Firefighters Hoping For Fire-Free Weekend

After 48 long hours on the job, Pawnee County emergency crews are finally able to pack it up and call it a night.

Images captured by a GoPro strapped to a Drumright firefighter show just how intense fighting a massive grass fire can be.

Across the street from The Billy B’s Gas Station on Highway 64, the grass is burnt and the smoke has yet to settle.

Through the camera lens of a Drumright firefighter, we see what it's like to battle a fire responsible for scorching 6,000 acres.

Despite the thick smoke, the red flames shine through. And despite the heat, the firefighters push forward to save what they could, including Jerry Ramsey’s home.

"I was in the trailer and I just smelled smoke. And I come out, and I run back up in there a couple hundred yards and I heard the cedars go up and it was like ‘whoa’ and I said ‘I gotta get out of here,’” he said.

It took Ramsey ten minutes to grab his dog and a few other items before the smoke became too much.

"By then I couldn't even breathe. The ashes was thick and my dog was choking," he said.

Over 48 hours, crews from 28 agencies did what they could. Fire and brush trucks were brought in, so were Blackhawk choppers and scooper planes to drop water where ground crews couldn't go.

Ramsey and a couple dozen other people had to watch from a safe distance.

"They had, at least, two fire trucks in here, and we sat up there and we just seen black smoke go up, and I just knew my place was done. How they saved it I don't know."

The Pawnee County emergency manager wanted to thank Billy B's Gas Station. They stayed open 24 hours to feed the firefighters and provide gas.

Now, after a long couple of days of fighting the fire, they hope it will be a calm and fire-free weekend.