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

Lynn, I am just so relieved to hear that the damage was minimal. (Although, of course, it never seems quite so minimal when it is your own place, and not someone else's.) If I were there with you now, I'd just give you a big hug and say how happy I am that you are OK, so consider yourself hugged long distance. : ) I know it is a terrible experience, especially as you're hurrying home and watching that big old plume of smoke, all the while wondering what has already burnt and what remains in danger. I am so proud of all the firefighters in Oklahoma--volunteer and professional--and the work they do. In our county, the 14 volunteer fire departments, the BIA and the forest service fire crews work together so well that it is just amazing. I'd like to second what you said, Lynn, about people supporting the volunteer fire departments. Most people assume that there is some kind of magical pot of money that the VFDs get from their city, county, state, or the federal goverment.....and that there is always enough money. That, of course, is not at all true. Most volunteer departments barely scrape by even though they are constantly working hard to raise money. On extreme fire danger days and extremely critical fire danger days, I am like a cat on a hot tin roof. I keep the fire radio turned on to the County Repeater so I can keep track of every fire in the county, instead of leaving it on the "pager" feature. And, I hate to get too far from home. We live in an area of rural mostly native pasture land too, and it can burn like mad. We've never had a fire as close to us as yours, but have had 2 on our land (but they were burning away from the house and outbuildings, and nowhere near fences of animals or anything). However, the ranch across the road catches fire at least a couple of times a year. (Their pastures back up to a highway and most of the fires start from the roadside.) For any of you wondering how to know when the fire danger is high, one of the easiest ways is to look at the NWS Enhanced Weather webpages. I check them daily, as they are informative and give info on all weather, and not just fire danger. On the enhanced weather page, the fire outlook is usually in one of the boxes along the right side of the page, near the bottom. Just keep scrolling down until you see it. You can click on it to enlarge it. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: NWS Enhanced Weather Webpage

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

The Red Flag Fire Warning for a few counties in western Oklahoma has been extended through 1 a.m. Saturday morning.