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A fire consumes an unused outbuilding during a Saturday grass fire. Photo courtesy of Cordell Fire Department.
A grass fire rushed through dry fields Saturday afternoon, consuming nearly 150 acres of land.
Burns Flat Fire Department was dispatched at approximately 12:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, according to Cordell firefighter Kolt Gray, who also responded to the blaze in one of Cordell’s fire trucks.The fire, Gray said, was moving very quickly in the dry grass. Cordell and Burns Flat crews fought the blaze away from a house on the property and steered it toward the road.
Other departments soon joined in the fight, a total of 17 different agencies responded to the blaze, including Washita County District 2 graders, which worked around the perimeter of the blaze to help build the fire lines to contain the inferno. Clinton, Arapaho, Canute, Foss, Dill City, Burns Flat, Rocky, Cloud Chief, Cordell, Elk City, Colony, Bessie, Sentinel, Binger, and Corn fire departments all responded to assist with the fire-fighting effort. Washita County Sheriff’s Office also responded, along with the District 2 crews.
Gray said the current fire conditions are extremely dangerous, as the heavy early spring and summer rains allowed a lot of fuel to grow on the ground. That growth, combined with recent high temperatures and low humidity, have created a situation in which there are large amounts of burnable fuel on the ground. Saturday’s weather, with high winds, combined with the dry fuel to create an extremely challenging situation for firefighters.
Gray said the presence of the county’s graders is what really made the difference on the fire.
“The graders built a fire line all the way around it,” he said. “Without that, it could have run all the way to I-40 because of all of the dry fuel on the ground.”
No inhabited or inuse structures were lost during the fire, only a few abandoned barns and other out-buildings. Gray attributed the successful response to the “great working relationship” between the various county departments.
“Our county departments all having a great working relationship makes things a lot easier,” he said.
The fire began approximately five miles west of Cordell along County Road 2190.