Seven structures destroyed in wildfires across Oklahoma

Saturday, March 11th 2006, 11:11 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Firefighters continued to douse hot spots on Monday after a series of wildfires charred thousands of acres of land, forced some evacuations and destroyed at least seven structures in parts of Oklahoma, authorities said Monday.

There were no reports of injuries.

In El Reno, about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City, aircraft dropped water on a few hot spots but firefighters basically had contained a blaze that consumed about 3,200 acres, the fire department estimated.

Firefighters worked through the night to get a handle on a wildfire that destroyed some structures and charred about 3,200 acres, said Kathleen Douglas, an executive assistant to the El Reno fire chief.

``The scene is controlled but we still have firemen out,'' Douglas said. ``We did lose some structures, some homes were lost. But there were no injuries to firefighters or civilians. That's always a good thing.''

It wasn't immediately known how many houses were destroyed.

In Lincoln County, residents in Carney who were evacuated from their homes because of the fires were allowed to return after firefighters extinguished the blaze, authorities said Monday.

Resources were spread thin among that blaze and another fire in Chandler. Officials at the state Fire Command Post in Shawnee reported three structures lost and several acres burned.

The state Fire Command Post in Shawnee also reported a fire near Cordell in Washita County, where about 20 acres were burned and four cabins at Cap Spring Lake were destroyed, fire information officer Dale Armstrong said.

Elsewhere, two separate Harmon County fires near Altus prompted officials at Altus Air Force Base to evacuate a couple hundred single military members residing in dormitories, base spokesman Ray Brzozowski said Monday.

``Everybody is back. It burned up a bunch of grass but not structures,'' Brzozowski said.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs responded to a 1,500-acre grass fire near Pawhuska that threatened several homes, said fire information officer Koshare Lomnicki.

Other fires were reported near Weatherford and Walters.

Oklahoma saw a mix of weather conditions Sunday, with thunderstorms and a tornado watch in eastern sections of the state and dry, windy conditions in the west.

Sustained winds of up to 35 miles per hour were reported in Oklahoma, with gusts up to 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service.