Oklahomans among those dead in Texas fires

UNDATED (AP) -- Four Oklahomans are among those killed in a series of wildfires that have scorched nearly 700,000 acres in Texas.<br/><br/>According to Texas Department of Public Safety officials, smoke

Tuesday, March 14th 2006, 8:12 am

By: News On 6

UNDATED (AP) -- Four Oklahomans are among those killed in a series of wildfires that have scorched nearly 700,000 acres in Texas.

According to Texas Department of Public Safety officials, smoke and dirt from a fire near Groom, Texas, led to a fatal chain-reaction accident Sunday that also injured six. Dead are 49-year-old Susan Louise Schumacher; 56-year-old Lawrence Schumacher and 14-year-old Alexis Burroughs -- all of Grove, Oklahoma -- and 46-year-old Karen Lachelle DeWeese of Wagoner, Oklahoma.

Tanker planes, including some from Oklahoma, helped ferry water to fight blazes in drought-stricken areas of the South Plains and Panhandle Monday.

Forecasters say no rain is expected in the region before Saturday.

Texas officials say about 3.5-million acres -- or two percent of the state's land mass -- have burned since December 26th.