Bon, I imagine that rumor is true. I heard that Oklahoma County sent a Task Force to help them, at the request of the Logan County emergency management people. County Task Forces usually pull 1 truck each, along with personnel to man that truck, from various departments within a specific county. That allows a county to send some help without stripping them entirely of personnel and trucks they may need to fight fires in their own county. There have been and still are many fires today, but that one just may be the worst one in terms of the struggle to contain it. I hope everyone stays safe and that no further structures are lost. Our wind speed here has really dropped in the last hour and I hope the wind speeds in the rest of the state are dropping as well. Dawn

Bumping this down. The evacuation has ceased.

Paula, Thanks for the update on Seedpapa, Seedmama, the Seedhome and all the little Seedlings. I am so grateful no one was hurt and also grateful the firefighters were able to save the house, and also that the evil bermuda grass may be burnt beyond repair. I share Seedmama's concern about the heat's effect on her garden soil. Most likely the organic matter in her soil may have burnt up (I'll look at her area's Keetch Byrum Drought Index number to see how dry her soil was, and that will give us a clue) so she may need to replenish with compost or other soil conditioners, which may be tough if the compost pile burnt up. How deeply the soil was affected also depends on how fast the wind pushed the fire. If the fire was pushed very quickly by the fire, then it sort of skimmed along the surface in a faster manner and might not have burnt the organic matter that is deeper below the surface. I hope Harrah has a community compost pile that did not burn so she'll have ready access to compost. On the bright side, if she had any soil-borne diseases in her soil, they may have vaporized. One immediate after-effect of wildfire is often a quick green-up of the burned area, which relates partly to the carbon released by burning I think, and also to the water poured onto the ground by firefighters. Also, the heat from some wildfires can cause native seeds to germinate, so that could be a plus if you're looking to regenerate a native grassland, for example, but maybe not great for a vegetable garden site. I hope Avidchamp's place is OK and that he and his family are as well. We don't get a lot of detail in the news coverage down here so I am wondering about Keith as well in Midwest City. Were there fires near Midwest City today? All is well in our county at the present time. I think firefighters might still be out at one or two fires, but the wind has dropped a lot and no fires are raging out of control here. You know, Paula, we always say life here is never dull, but sometimes the speed with which things happen still shocks me. When the fires starting breaking out today, it was like popcorn with new ones popping up every few minutes. It was just crazy! As for the earthquake/tsunami, the video footage is so horrifying. I know we have earthquakes here, but I "think" we are safe from tsunamis. This is Oklahoma, though, so you never really know what to expect. Dawn

Jay, What new planting mix are you using? I want to hear about it! This year I'll be planting deep too since my soil moisture levels down deep are good, but soil moisture levels higher up are not good. I'll have to water deeply to make it work and with clay that's not always easy. That's terrible news about the fire near Santanta, KS. I hope everyone evacuates safely and that the firefighters can do their job in a safe and effective manner. With the winds today, I've felt like it was a matter of time before someone had a big fire somewhere. The sky here looks disgusting. For a while, it was a sort of a red dusty look like you get with dust storms blowing in from west Texas. Then, a couple of hours ago it started looking more like grayish-white fog or smoke from somewhere. Now it is yellow and a heavy layer of pollen is settling on the vehicles. We're going to have a whole rainbow of colors in the sky tonight and tomorrow. At least most of us here on this forum will not be endangered by the severe weather expected tonight and tomorrow. Dr. Forbes on The Weather Channel seems deeply concerned about the potential for very severe weather from all this mess, but it should start north and east of most of us. This morning, they interviewed a Storm Chaser guy in Sherman, TX, and asked where he and his bunch were headed today and he said Coffeyville, KS. He said once they got there, they'd check the latest weather data and head for wherever they thought the action would be. Around here, when we have the potential for severe weather that includes tornadoes, I just watch for the storm chaser vehicles. When those vehicles are driving up my road, that's when I head for the fraidy hole. Last year, Chris was out storm spotting with other firefighters and law enforcement officers and they ran into some storm chasers about a quarter-mile to a half-mile from our house. I heard them mention that on the radio and I headed for the cellar. About fifteen minutes later, the tornado touched down at the Red River near us and hop-scotched its way across the county, but didn't do any real damage. I don't really have to watch the local weather radar---I just watch for the storm chasers and that's all the warning I need. Dawn