Oklahoma declares state of emergency due to wildfires: ‘Conditions remain dangerous’

(BEAVER COUNTY, Okla.) — The Oklahoma governor declared a state of emergency on Wednesday due to multiple wildfires in the state’s panhandle region, as critical fire weather conditions persist in the region.

A “series of destructive wildfires” is burning across northwest Oklahoma, the governor’s office said.

The largest, the Ranger Road Fire, has burned 145,000 acres since igniting in Oklahoma’s Beaver County on Tuesday and crossing into Kansas, according to fire officials. It was 0% contained as of Wednesday morning, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Services.

Additional local task forces are being deployed to Beaver County, the governor’s office said Wednesday.

Three other “significant” wildfires in Oklahoma’s Texas and Woodward counties were 20% to 25% contained as of Wednesday morning, according to fire officials.

Four firefighters were injured and several homes destroyed in the wildfire in Woodward County, according to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.

The town of Tyrone in Texas County was also evacuated earlier Wednesday “as a precaution,” Stitt said.

The governor’s executive order stated that the state’s emergency operations plan has been activated and resources of all state departments and agencies are available “to meet this emergency.”

“As we head into today and tomorrow, conditions remain dangerous,” Stitt said in a statement Wednesday. “We need every Oklahoman to stay alert and continue taking fire warnings seriously.”

A red flag warning is in effect Wednesday across western and central Oklahoma and west of the I-35 corridor, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Services. The critical threat of fire danger is expected to continue into Thursday.

“Fire weather conditions will expand eastward across a larger part of Oklahoma as high winds combine with low humidity across most of the state,” the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said Wednesday.

Red flag warnings, fire weather watches and high wind warnings are also in effect across Kansas.

“There should be NO outdoor burning of any kind until this event is over, as the slightest ember could become tomorrow’s inferno,” the Kansas Division of Emergency Management said on social media.