On Friday, Green Country is in extreme fire danger, and a Red Flag Warning is in effect for most of Oklahoma.
A High Wind Warning has also been issued for parts of Green Country.
Oklahoma Forestry Services said all forms of outdoor burning are strongly discouraged from Thursday through the weekend.
For a look at the Oklahoma Forestry Services’ state and county burn ban map, click here.
The State Emergency Operations Center will activate to a Level 2 at 10 a.m. on Friday, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. A Level 2 includes increased staff for extended hours. They are also asking for people to help first responders by postponing any activities that could spark a fire.
You can find our latest forecast by clicking here.
You can find a list of power outage maps below:
- PSO Outage Map
- Verdigris Valley Electric Outage Map
- OG&E Outage Map
- Indian Electric Cooperative Outage Map
Below is a list of information sent out by various agencies across our viewing area:
Tulsa:
Tulsa Fire Department is increasing their staffing on Friday in preparation for the high wildfire risk.
Additional personnel will be assigned to staff four grass rig apparatus and their incident management team.
This increase is in addition to TFD’s standard minimum staffing level of 150 firefighters per shift.
TFD also sent out a reminder about discarded cigarettes.
TFD said a lit cigarette can reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to ignite dry grass instantly.
They said that over 9,000 wildfires in the U.S. each year are started by cigarettes.
To prevent wildfires, TFD said to never toss a lit cigarette out of your car window, use a proper ashtray or extinguish cigarettes in water and to report any roadside fires immediately by calling 911.
Broken Arrow:
Broken Arrow Fire Department is preparing for the fire danger on Friday by increasing its staff.
Along with being placed in a Red Flag Warning and High Wind Watch on Friday, Broken Arrow has also been placed in the critical/extreme zone for grassland fire spread rates.
The rates could be as high as 28 to 479 feet per minute, according to the National Weather Service, if a fire were to start.
BAFD will have 10 additional firefighters to staff five extra brush trucks along with an additional officer to serve as a Brush Truck Task Force leader.
BAFD said the wind is not just a concern for fire, but it is also a concern for powerlines, which can cause electrical hazards.
BAFD is encouraging residents to refrain from all outdoor burning on Friday, including outdoor fires, open flames and welding operations.
They are also encouraging people to not leave vehicles idling on grass because the heat from the vehicle could cause the ground below to catch fire.
Washington County:
Washington County Emergency Management said humidity will be in the teens, and by Friday afternoon, wind gusts could be as high as 50-60 mph.
They said this will make the fire spread more than 350 feet per minute with flame length in the area of 50-100 ft, which they said are near impossible conditions to combat the fire.
WCEM said any outdoor burning after Tuesday is “just simply irresponsible.”
Cherokee County:
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said that while there is currently no burn ban in the county, there will be “absolutely no reason” to be burning outdoors.
They are asking residents to wait to burn until the winds die down and they get some rain.
Delaware County:
Delaware County is under a County Burn Ban, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Services.
Verdigris:
Verdigris Fire District said no controlled burning for the remainder of the week in the Verdigris Fire District.
Okmulgee County:
Okmulgee County Emergency Management is asking for everyone to not burn anything outside until conditions improve.
They said the latest dry conditions have shown that 27% of Okmulgee County is abnormally dry.
Grove area:
Cowskin Fire Department said that due to the high winds and temperatures and low humidity, at least three fire departments will be sent to every fire call.
Nowata:
Nowata Fire Department said there is to be no outside burning inside of Nowata city limits because of the extreme fire danger. They said they would provide updates when it’s OK to resume burning brush.
The fire department said grilling food and smoking meat and other food is OK at this time, just no open flames.
Locust Grove:
A burn ban is in effect in the Town of Locust Grove through March 17.
Residents outside of town limits are advised to be extremely cautious when planning to burn and are requested to report their burn to Mayes County 911 Dispatch at 918-825-6838 and remain with the fire until it’s completely extinguished.
The State of Oklahoma is urging all residents to avoid activities that may spark wildfires and to immediately report fires by calling 911.
Adair County:
With the fire danger starting Friday, the Adair County Sheriff’s Office is asking residents not to burn anything until the windy weather has passed.
If you see or know of anyone purposely setting fires, you’re asked to call the sheriff’s office at 918-696-2106.
Latimer County:
Latimer County Emergency Management said burning of any kind is strongly discouraged as fire spread rates of 200-400 feet per minute will be possible.