What’s on fire?
More specifically, where are the fires. CNN makes it sound like OKC is about to burn down. I know the official boundries of the city cover a large area though.
Is everyone OK?
All fine here, except there’s a pall of smoke over the area. Driving to my parents’ rural house, we went through probably 20 minutes of scorched roadsides-- ugh!
OKC is something like 350+ square miles, plus suburbs, and a lot of it is fairly rural looking; there’s a 40+ acre empty area across from our apartment complex, for instance (which isn’t on fire, just to make that clear).
Corr
I used to live in there. I’ve lived in Midwest City, you wouldn’t believe the laughs that town name gets, Edmond and Norman. But the CNN stuff isn’t very enlightening.
I think generally what you’ll find on most of OK is either crops or brush. I saw one of the early fires in NW OK on Wednesday afternoon shortly after it started - took my parents flying and we noticed it at a distance shortly after takeoff. It wasn’t too windy to fly on Wednesday, but a little windier than when we usually see controlled burns happen. It was a fairly remote area (most of Oklahoma is) and the dude lost a couple hundred acres and all of the hay that he was growing on it. Away from larger towns, OK’s population is pretty sparse. Every ten or fifteen miles or so is a small town that is usually less than a square mile in size.
All the fires I’ve seen today have been on tv. Local coverage made it seem the apocalypse was upon us. For the short time I watched, the three local network affiliates seemed pretty focused on one in the N.E. quadrant of OKC, where (coincidentally, I’m sure) at least one and maybe more of the stations have broadcast facilities. (I’m a little fuzzy on exactly where the stations are, 'cause I really don’t care.)
The hysteria might be a little overblown, but the threat is real. Unseasonally high temperatures, very low humidity, very high winds (not that unusual here) and drought conditions have essentially made the entire state the proverbial tinderbox. I’ve got family scattered all over the state, so I’m keeping an eye out. (And you wouldn’t believe how fast they dry out when you do that.)
The big one I saw yesterday was far NE. Tho still within the city limits, it’s virtually rural. Some nice homes, but about a mile apart or so.
Some other fires were far west, but still within city limits.
OKC city limits encompass a huge amount of empty land. I would venture that for several miles in any direction you go, you would be in a rural area before coming to the actual city limits.
Of course, none of this means that people’s homes aren’t burning down. They are. Sucks just as bad to lose your home in a rural area as in the heart of the city. And I have seen several spots of burned ground cover along the freeways in very urban parts of the city. Our problem is that we are the grip of a 20 yr low of rainfall and the winds are normal Oklahoma winds, meaning 30 mph plus sustained. Ultra dry brush plus high winds equals extreme fire danger.
I burning your question.
Anything new burn up today?
Yesterday. The winds have died down greatly today. Went from 30 mph sustained with gusts to 55, to being a right calm 5 - 15 today.
If only we had some rain!
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Hey, I was born and raised in Midwest City! I didn’t think anyone else lived there, haha.
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Stay safe, folks. We’re thinkin’ of ya. 
Hell, the pall of smoke extends all the way down here to Austin.
You guys take care, leastwise till next football season. 