On the weekend of March 14, an onslaught of wildfires driven by hurricane-strength winds swept through many areas of the state. The fires left significant damage, destroying homes and other structures including a historic Native American church.
“More than 130 fires were reported across Oklahoma and nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Saturday.
By the morning of March 15, volunteers with Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) were already working to bring hope, help and healing to the situation. A feeding site has been set up in Stillwater to serve at the shelters there as well as in Guthrie and Pawnee according to Jason Yarbrough, state director of Oklahoma Baptists DR.
Ryan Deatherage, who serves as associate director for Oklahoma DR, says that they are now receiving orders for assistance in ash clean-up efforts, which DR will be prioritizing. Fire damage leaves hot spots even after the main fire has been extinguished, meaning that clean up efforts are delayed in fire damaged areas until those hot spots cool down.
“We can’t start our cleanup efforts on a property for several days due to the ashes remaining too hot to handle and getting the guidelines from the state/county/city officials,” Yarbrough said. “But like any disaster, we will be there for Oklahomans impacted by the disasters, trying to provide help, healing and hope—the hope that only Jesus can give.”
State officials reported more than 130 wildfires in 44 of the 77 counties in the state March 14. Major blazes were reported in Mannford, Stillwater, Guthrie, Leedey, Norman, Oklahoma City and Little Axe. Flames also flared up in Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Canadian, Choctaw, Cleveland, Comanche, Creek, Dewey, Grant, Grady, Dewey, Harper, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Latimer, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, Mayes, McClain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Okfuskee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Roger Mills, Seminole, Sequoyah, Stephens, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, and Woods counties.
Officials have also confirmed four people have died due to fires or high winds from Friday’s fire outbreak. Additionally, there are a total of 142 injuries.
DR volunteers have provided hundreds of meals that were served in areas including Mannford, Cleveland, Terlton, Guthrie, Stillwater and Pawnee. DR has already provided 1,200 meals for lunch and dinner on March 16, and on March 17 prepared 1,200 more meals to be served in coordination with other relief organizations.
For future updates or to make a tax-deductible donation to Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief, visit
https://www.okdisasterhelp.org/donate/.
