4 dead and 142 injured in Oklahoma wildfires; more than 400 homes damaged statewide
Raging wildfires in Oklahoma have left four people dead and over 140 injured, the state's medical examiner said on Sunday.
More than 400 homes and structures have been destroyed and at least 170,000 acres burned in Oklahoma after several wildfires broke out, prompting evacuations amid extreme fire weather conditions through the weekend.
A red flag warning is in effect for much of the state from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday due to gusty winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation.
Dangerous storm conditions across the Midwest and South have led to vehicle fatalities across the country.
In Kansas, a major crash on Interstate 70 in western Kansas near the border with Colorado, involved over 50 vehicles and left eight people dead, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. Several other people were injured.
In the Texas panhandle, four people were killed in car crashes caused by a dust storm, according to Sgt. Cindy Barkley, with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
One person died in a vehicle accident after driving into smoke, according to Gov. Kevin Stitt in Oklahoma.
The governor praised the early evacuations in his state amid the wildfires saying, "Our alert system worked better than it than it ever has to let people know and have plenty of warnings on their phones."
"Unlike tornadoes, we got everybody evacuated, and so we don't have any reports of any any fatalities from from homes, but the damage is unbelievable," Stitt said.
Overall, there were 130 fires reported in 44 countries across Oklahoma, according to the state's Department of Emergency Management.
The same storm system that brought the heavy winds to the Plains states is also responsible for the outbreak of tornadoes across the Midwest and South this weekend.
"It was just a perfect storm. The humidity levels went down to kind of record lows, below 10%, and then with the winds where they were just dried everything out," Stitt said.
"We should have a couple good days in a row here to get all the fires out, because there's a little bit of risk coming back, maybe Monday or Tuesday. So we've got, we've got some crews coming in from Louisiana, Arkansas, to really help us stamp out the fires," he said.
A state of emergency was issued for 12 counties in Oklahoma on Friday.
The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center warned of "near historic" fire conditions in the Plains.
Red flag and high wind warnings were in effect for several states in the Plains and Midwest on Friday.
Very dry, warm and windy conditions made for extreme fire weather conditions across Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
"Several large wildfire complexes" were burning Friday evening across central, northern, and western Oklahoma, the National Weather Service in Norman said.
The NWS advised residents to evacuate due to a "complex of extremely dangerous fires is located along the southern and eastern parts of Lake Carl Blackwell."
In Texas, the Windmill Fire ignited in Roberts County, growing to an estimated 11,000 acres, Texas A&M Forest Service said. It was 50% contained as of Friday evening, with forward progression stopped, it said.
Parts of Gray County, Texas, were temporarily under a mandatory evacuation due to the Rest Area Fire, the Texas A&M Forest Service said. The fire has burned an estimated 3,000 and was 30% contained as of Friday evening, it said.
Several crashes were reported in northwest Texas on Friday amid low visibility from blowing dust, the Texas Department of Public Safety said while warning of "dangerous conditions."
The NWS in Norman also warned of low visibility in parts of northwest Oklahoma due to a dust storm.
