Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes watched towers of flame and smoke rise over homes in several neighborhoods Thursday evening.
As wind-whipped wildfires spread out of control, every blowing ember became a potential threat. Every home’s rooftop was potential kindling for the next fire.
Clabes said he can’t think of a disaster where more Midwest City residents had their lives or homes put in danger. About 100 homes were destroyed, authorities said.
"This is probably the worst disaster in Midwest City’s history, even worse than the May 3, 1999, tornadoes,” Clabes said.
No serious injuries were reported in Midwest City.
"But I don’t think we’re going to have these fires out anytime soon. They’re out of control,” Clabes said Thursday evening, adding the fires rekindled as fast as they could be put out because of the winds.
A grass fire that burned two acres near SE 15 and Buena Vista was extinguished around 3:00 Friday morning, according to Midwest City fire department officials.
Jerry Lojka, Midwest City fire spokesman, said fires Thursday were leapfrogging from home to home as high winds carried burning embers to rooftops. The Turtlewood, Windsong and Oakwood additions were those most affected by the fires near SE 28 and Westminster. Oakwood East was the worst hit, he said.
Flames moved too fast for firefighters to keep up in many cases, Lojka said.
Lojka said all 89 of Midwest City’s firefighters were fighting the fire late Thursday, which officials believe is the first time in the city’s history its entire force has been deployed to one fire.
No serious injuries had been reported by 10 p.m., Lojka said. Some residents had been treated for smoke inhalation and some firefighters were treated for dehydration.
Authorities sent residents in the evacuated areas to the Midwest City Community Center, where about 100 people were staying Thursday evening.
Shannon Kaelin, who lives in the Oakwood East addition, said a police officer knocked on her door and told her to get out as fast as she could. She said she grabbed her daughter, purse and cell phone and got into her car, but the prospect of leaving seemed more frightening than staying.
Kaelin, 37, said trees were burning and flames shot up more than 30 feet into the air as she drove down the street leaving her neighborhood. Struggling to see amid smoke and bumper-to-bumper traffic, Kaelin said she could feel the heat from the fire as she crept along in the slow-moving traffic.
"I was so scared, I didn’t know if we should jump out of the car and run,” Kaelin said.
The first fire in Midwest City was reported about 3 p.m. at SE 29 and Post Road with winds coming from the southwest.
"The fire keeps rekindling because the wind is blowing 25 to 30 mph in different directions,” Clabes said.
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