The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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July 3, 2009

Firefighters respond to threatening control burn

By Kasey Fowler, Staff Writer

As soon as harvest begins to wane, farmers do what they do every year: burn fields.

Although they try to keep on a close eye on their controlled burns, these fires can easily get out of control.

Friday afternoon, such a controlled burn got out of control in the Lahoma-Meno area, and several area fire departments had to respond to put it out.

“There were several controlled burns around the area. I think it was a controlled burn that got out of control,” said Mike Honigsberg, Enid and Garfield County Emergency Management director. “Unfortunately, it happens when the winds come up.”

The fire threatened a residence but did not damage it, he said.

“It got close to a residence. It didn’t get close enough to the house, after we all got there, to damage it. The house was not in danger,” Honigsberg said.

Responding fire departments were Lahoma, Meno, Ringwood, Hillsdale-Carrier and Drummond.

“Ringwood showed up, we sent them and Meno up to another fire that started about a mile away. We had enough trucks where we were at. There were a lot of trucks out there,” Honigsberg said.

Other fire departments were on standby if the fire got out of control.

“Clarence Maly, the Waukomis fire chief, put a strike team together to be on standby if it got out of control,” Honigsberg said. “We try to be prepared in events like this. It is better safe than sorry.”

Honigsberg said he was unsure how many acres burned. He estimated it may have been between 300 and 500 acres.

“A lot of the area that got burned they wanted burned,” he said.

Oklahoma Department of Agriculture’s Web site warns high fire activity is common in the state during the summer.

According to the site, the ability to live more safely depends on “pre-fire” activities. Re-search shows by being proactive before a wildfire occurs, residents have a better chance of saving lives and property from wildfire.

According to the site, the landscape can’t be fireproofed, but residents can manage vegetation around their homes to create defensible space and use fire-resistant building materials.

Help may be on the way, though, in the form of rain this weekend.

According to National Weather Service, there is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms today after 1 p.m. The high is expected to be 92. Tonight, there also is a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, some which may produce heavy rain, according to NWS.

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