Wildfires may have hastened Republican meltdown

Monday, March 27th 2006, 5:44 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Wildfires that have scorched Oklahoma for the past five months have become a hot political issue as rural volunteer fire departments turn to state lawmakers for help.

The Legislature's failure to help firefighters may have hastened a political meltdown within the state House's Republican caucus that culminated last week with the resignation of Representative Lance Cargill as floor leader.

Cargill's departure followed weeks of political pressure from rural Democrats who said Republicans were blocking their attempts to fund rural volunteer fire departments.

Cargill's resignation also followed weeks of unrest among some GOP members over the failure of legislation important to their district -- including firefighter assistance -- to get a vote.