GRASS fires burn in central Oklahoma

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion after battling a blaze in Friday's triple-digit heat, authorities said. <br><br>The blaze in far north Oklahoma County near Deer

Saturday, July 7th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion after battling a blaze in Friday's triple-digit heat, authorities said.

The blaze in far north Oklahoma County near Deer Creek charred dozens of acres and threatened several homes and barns, fire officials said. A Deer Creek firefighter was treated at an Edmond hospital and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. No other injuries were reported.

The fire's cause was unknown Friday night.

Oklahoma City firefighters battled two smaller grass fires earlier Friday. No injuries were reported from either fire, fire Maj. Brian Stanaland said.

The first fire began shortly after 1:30 p.m. in far east Oklahoma City. Flames burned five acres and threatened one home.

The second blaze in north Oklahoma City burned 10 acres but did not endanger any homes or buildings.

The cause of Friday's fires was unknown, but afternoon high temperatures climbed to 99 degrees in Oklahoma City and winds blew from 10 to 20 mph, the National Weather Service said.

Stanaland said the city will see extreme heat conditions for the next week.

``We're starting to dry out. It's been several days since we've had significant rain,'' Stanaland said. ``We (the fire department) definitely would urge citizens to use caution.''