Those fears materialized on Dec. 27, 2005, when uncontrollable wildfires exploded in 13 counties, chasing residents from their homes, creating havoc and forcing Gov. Brad Henry to activate the state's Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
The governor first issued a statewide burn ban on Nov. 15, 2005, and asked residents to refrain from throwing cigarette butts from car windows because of the severe conditions. Officials, including Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) Director Albert Ashwood, feared the conditions would lead to the inevitable. "There's a lot of fuel out there," he said, "and we knew that with any kind of spark, with the high winds that we have here in Oklahoma, there could be some terrible wildfires."
Ashwood and EOC Manager Paul Spencer prepared for the worst, working closely with John Burwell, director of Forestry Services with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, the lead agency on wildfires, as well as with other agencies. "We talked about drought conditions," Ashwood said. "We worked with our friends at the Water Resources Board about hydrological data, as well as the meteorological data we have so we know how much water we have to fight fires with. We also know how much water is in the ground."
Oklahoma held its own against wildfires from early November until late December -- and then the state erupted.
'Terrible Day'
Dec. 27, 2005, arrived with a fury. Firefighters battled blazes that displaced 30 families in 13 counties and forced the evacuations of many more.
"We just had a terrible day," Ashwood said. "We had wildfire outbreaks in about six different locations; we had winds gusting up to 45 to 50 miles per hour across the state. When you have any kind of fire and that kind of wind -- plus we also had temperatures up close to 80 [degrees] that day, as well as very low humidity -- it makes a perfect recipe for disaster when wildfire is involved."
At the activated EOC, the state was bringing all its resources to bear against the fires, and Spencer was busy coordinating efforts with partners -- the Oklahoma Military Department, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the Department of Transportation, and the USDA Forest Service in Boise, Idaho, which set up an aerial tanker base in Ardmore, Okla.
"My job is to keep in touch with all of our partners -- the Military Department, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry -- but also coordinate with the Department of Transportation and our highway patrol folks," Spencer said. "Every time we have one of these fires somewhere, there's going to be a road closed because it's simply not safe to drive into the smoke."
The OEM launched an Incident Command Post (ICP) in Shawnee, Okla., where one of the local colleges set up a fiber-optic line for Internet access. There, Emergency Management Officer Steve Palladino and other OEM staff were in daily contact with Ashwood or Spencer, reviewing the incident action plan -- ensuring consistency with weather patterns, safety conditions and fire threats for that day -- and coordinating the activities of aerial support. The incident action plan is a day-to-day briefing on safety and weather in all divisions throughout the state, Palladino said. "It gives them weather information and the previous day's activities. It keeps everybody abreast of what's going on and what direction they need to take." At the ICP, Palladino also responded to local EOC managers and first responders, apprising them of current conditions, alerting them of impending dangers and offering state assistance.
"Unfortunately," Ashwood said, "when it comes to wildfires, there are very few resources we have at the state level outside of the people we have with the Forest Service; outside of the Chinooks and Black Hawks [helicopters] we have with the military department that help with aerial support. We really rely on the local jurisdictions, those local first responders, to put the fires out."
Fueled Fire Rages On
The Forestry Department called in help from other states as the fires raged on. By Dec. 29, the fires had spread to 21 counties, charring 20,000-plus acres, destroying 50 homes and claiming the life of a senior citizen who died of a heart attack trying to save his house.
The blazes were out of control, and firefighters could do little other than try to protect property. "We're at the mercy of the weather," Gov. Brad Henry told The Oklahoman.
The weather was of no help, and by Jan. 2, 2006, the fires had spread over 250,000 acres, damaging or destroying 200 structures and causing more than $10 million in damages. The governor's news conference stressed the importance of the burn ban and expressed hope that the state would be granted the federal emergency declaration requested days earlier.
Meanwhile, the frantic effort to stave off relentless fires continued. "We were working, making sure we provided all resources necessary here, but also requesting and getting resources from neighboring states," Ashwood said, adding that Oklahoma got help from states as far away as Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina and Alabama. "It's a misconception that anything is waited on for the presidential disaster declaration," Ashwood said. "That's strictly a tool to provide recovery assistance to the fire departments, as well as the state for costs incurred from these fires."
Frustration Heats Up
Still, Gov. Henry became frustrated with FEMA's delayed response, later telling The Oklahoman, "It's a hokey, bureaucratic mess." Finally on Jan. 10, 2006, two weeks after the request, FEMA approved a disaster declaration for the state.
By that time, fires burned nearly 400,000 acres.
The federal declaration meant resources for residents who lost homes and businesses, and federal dollars for emergency wildfire-control measures. The grants would provide for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.
FEMA Director R. David Paulison said his agency was concerned about approving the disaster declaration because it had already approved many fire management assistance grants, which are federal monies provided to individuals whose houses are threatened. "These fire management assistance grants are critical and necessary steps toward enabling state and local governments to fight these fires," Paulison said in a news release. "We are committed to getting our firefighters the funds they need to extinguish dangerous fires that threaten lives and property."
The disaster declaration, Ashwood said, is a unique vehicle used to help individuals as provided under federal law. "But basically you have to call in and request those while the fire is still going on." He said he was proud to have received the grants. "You have to understand the law," he said. "It's not FEMA; it's the federal law. So if you're all on the same page as to what the law allows, then everything moves smoothly."
For Ashwood and his team, the federal declaration meant a shift in responsibilities to FEMA in terms of recovery. "When we start with these operations, everything works out of the EOC, all coordination," he explained. "When we set up an Incident Command Post, like the one we have in Shawnee, then all response requirements or responsibilities move to that command post. After we get the presidential declaration, we move all recovery responsibilities to a Joint Field Office (JFO)."
The recovery aid became increasingly necessary as more families were forced to evacuate. Over a two-day period -- Jan. 12 and 13 -- the fires destroyed at least 20 more homes and scorched at least 23,000 acres. From the JFO, FEMA dispatched six community relations specialists to work with OEM personnel to contact and assist affected residents with damages and losses.
At the local levels, voluntary evacuations were well under way throughout the ordeal, according to Ashwood. "Evacuation is a local issue," he said. "We leave it up to the fire chief on what areas need to be evacuated based on the behavior of the fire." The local emergency manager, along with the Red Cross and other agencies, sets up shelters. The process is voluntary.
Shelters, located upwind of the fires, were set up at school gymnasiums, town halls and other available buildings. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army provided items of need to victims.
No End in Sight
The relentless fires also threatened commerce, including cattle producers, who began selling young cattle in mid-January -- before the fires or the drought diminished their feed. Many producers sold much of their cattle months earlier than planned.
By the end of January, the burn ban was still in effect as the state remained mired in drought. Just one-quarter inch of rain was measured in Oklahoma City in January -- the average is nearly one and one-half inches. From October through the end of January, the central part of the state received 1.88 inches of rain -- 7.76 inches below normal, the lowest on record for that area. With no relief from the dry weather, fires continued through February, and on March 10, 2006, Ashwood and his team were still on standby.
"We're still in the middle of it," he said. "It's amazing. This is absolutely the worst fire season we have had here in Oklahoma. We had a terrible day a week ago where we lost 64 more homes. That's a devastating day. Right now, we're in a period where we've had a little drop in temperatures and a little rain, but we expect the fire danger to go up in the next few days."
As of March 14, more than 550,000 acres burned, yet just two deaths and eight injuries to firefighters were attributed to the fires, something for which Ashwood was grateful. "A lot of that," he said, "can be attributed to fire departments and local emergency managers getting the message out and doing the evacuations."
Though he took time to acknowledge the good work done, it wasn't time to let down the guard with tornado season just a couple of weeks away and no end to the drought in sight.
"The fact is, we're still in a terrible drought about every place in Oklahoma," Ashwood said. "A lot of people think of the Dust Bowl days in the '30s and everyone moving to California. Well, this drought is actually worse than that drought they went through."
Ashwood said the state would perhaps be up against both tornadoes and fires simultaneously. "There's not a guarantee with tornadoes and high winds you're going to get rain with it," he said. "We might have tornadoes and fires at the same time. We'll just deal with it."
