Commissioners eye burn ban as drought conditions worsen

County Emergency Management issued this warning on social media on Monday, advising residents not to burn debris due to dry, windy conditions. Current forecasts show no additional precipitation for at least a week, according to the National Weather Service.

by Tawsha Brinkley-Davenport

With most of the county facing moderate drought and weekend winds making fire danger high, commissioners made the first moves Monday toward a county fire ban.

Under state law, most of the county’s fire departments have to support such a move, as well as the state Forestry Division, before commissioners can vote to impose such a ban.

With the colder temperatures, combined with the dry drought conditions, elevated winds, and humidity dropping, it sets up a perfect scenario for a wildfire.

Everything along the forest floor is drying out, such as pine needles, twigs, and plant debris, turning it into surface fuels. Because of this, officials are warning citizens not to burn anything outside.

“With these conditions, it doesn’t take long for the winds to start a fire fast that will spread for acres,” said Jerry Falling, McCurtain County Emergency Management director.

“The biggest thing we are stressing with our no fire alert is please do not burn anything outside,” said Falling.

The official U.S. Drought Monitor released on December 23 lists the northern parts of McCurtain County as “being abnormally dry and the southern majority of McCurtain County as being in “moderate drought.”

These conditions make any open flame or spark incredibly dangerous, with embers carried by the wind quickly spreading fires.

This led to Falling releasing a statement regarding the weather and the likelihood of fires on December 28.

“To all citizens in McCurtain County, although we are not under a burn ban, we are extremely dry. Combining that with high winds, the wildfire risk is high. Please do not burn outdoors until the winds die down, as we have a couple of large fires going down in the county. Thank you for understanding, and our first responders thank you,” said Falling.

According to the Fire Situation report published by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry on December 29, there were 10 fires in southeastern Oklahoma with 537.7 acres burned over the past few days. The cause is two escaped debris fires and currently eight incendiaries.

Of those acres, 172 were located in the Chapman Road area outside of Broken Bow.

“We received two calls yesterday. One was a call for the use of our grass truck for a fire off of the Craig Road area from the Forestry Department around 6:14 p.m. We called the Eagletown Volunteer Fire Department to assist us,” said Ryan Martin, Broken Bow, Fire Chief.

“This was the Champman Road area, near Craig Road, which is near the Little River Wildlife Reserve; we all refer to it as the ‘Yellow Banks’ area,” said Mark Hannah, Eagletown Volunteer Fire Chief.

Hannah said they often assist the Broken Bow Fire Department in this area, along with the Forestry Department.

“As we arrived on the scene of the ‘Yellow Banks’ fire, I was informed about the fire at the Ringold and Wright City area. The Forestry Service was all up there fighting that fire. So Broken Bow and our department were at the Banks fire, making sure it didn’t jump the roads or anything.

Hannah said it was commonplace for this area to have fires. “Our department, the Eagletown Volunteer Fire Department, provides mutual aid. These areas are wild line pine plantations. When we arrived, I believe 35 acres had already burnt by the time we left; it was close to 70 plus acres. There were two areas that we worked in, the Yellow Banks area; another area about 40 acres had already burnt. I am not sure how many acres totally were burned in that area. We heard of one also in Smithville yesterday, but I believe a Forestry Service worked it. That was on its way to Nashoba,” said Hannah.

The other call the Broken Bow Fire Department received over the weekend involved a dead tree off Oak Grove Road, east of Broken Bow.

“There was a dead tree that fell over onto an electrical line. It created a spark, which in turn caught the tree on fire. We caught the fire before it became very big. The power line was holding the tree that was arched out between. We have been rather lucky this season, because of all of the rain, we have had a rather mild fire season,” said Martin.

Commissioners also responded to many down trees Monday evening after gusty north winds moved in.

All of the officials emphasize that it has been weeks since the county has seen any measurable moisture, and all of the conditions are very favorable for more wildfires.

“I personally knew of four yesterday, one in the Ringold area, one in Broken Bow, and one in Eagletown,” said Falling.

The ODAFF reports that in Southeastern Oklahoma, as of Monday, the resistance to control fire continues to increase where drought indices are firmly in place. The temperature will range from 40 to 46 degrees with partly cloudy skies and afternoon relative humidity values of 20 to 27 percent with a yield of one hour moisture at five to six percent in far southeast Oklahoma.

“Because of these conditions, they all together will support the spread of forest fires. We stress that any outdoor burning and activities that involve open sparks or flames are discouraged. Please report all wildfires to local law enforcement as soon as possible,” said Falling.

The National Weather Service out of Shreveport has issued an elevated fire alert across the entire county of McCurtain.

Their warnings include avoiding any type of fireworks. Avoid all outdoor burning. Secure any towing chains. Never drive over tall grass. Properly dispose of all cigarettes.

“Dry conditions combined with gusty northwest winds and low relative humidity values will result in elevated fire danger across the entire Four State Region today,” according to the National Weather Service.

The city of Millerton reported a fire over the weekend, but it was a controlled burn that had already been previously scheduled.

Each year, the city of Millerton burns 2,7000 acres, but in blocks, not at one time, according to Mayor Donald Booth.

As the paper went to press Monday, Falling and Hannah both received a call about a new wildfire located north of the county.

“I was just informed of another wildfire up north,” said Falling.

“We just received a call that there is an active fire of 50 acres up north in the Smithville area. We will see what happens,” said Hannah, Eagletown volunteer fire chief.

“I am really advising everyone to please not to burn anything outside, brush, trash, or have a campfire. Please take this warning seriously,” said Falling.