Texas County remains under burn ban as Panhandle wildfires spread
Texas and Cimarron counties stayed under burn bans as 49,000 acres burned across the Panhandle and state crews staged in Texas County.
Texas County remained under a burn ban as wildfire smoke, drought and red flag conditions kept the Oklahoma Panhandle on edge, with about 49,000 acres burning and state crews staging support inside the county. For ranchers, outdoor workers and businesses in Guymon, Hooker, Goodwell and Texhoma, the restrictions signaled that ordinary field work, travel and equipment use still carried the risk of sparking another fire.
Cimarron and Texas counties were the only counties under burn bans as of the latest state reports, a sharp sign that local officials saw the danger as immediate and concentrated. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry said fire weather was easing after a strong cold front, and rain chances were moving into the forecast for parched counties. Even so, lightning ignitions remained a concern, leaving the region exposed to new starts even as some of the existing fires were coming under control.
The state fire situation report for May 19 showed how much ground the largest incidents had already covered. The Black Mesa Trail Fire in Cimarron County had burned 719 acres and was 70 percent contained. The Sharpe Fire had burned 12,028 acres in Oklahoma and 28,609 acres across Oklahoma and Colorado combined, with containment at 10 percent. The Tex-OK Fire had burned 23,884 acres and was 85 percent contained. In Beaver County, the Wolf Canyon OK Fire had burned 3,267.1 acres and was 60 percent contained, while the Ballard/Stateline Fire in Cimarron County had burned 9,882.2 acres in Oklahoma and 18,321 acres combined across Oklahoma and Colorado, with containment at 75 percent.
Texas County was part of the response, not just a neighboring observer. KOSU reported that the county provided radio communications support, and additional strike teams were staged there to help with suppression across the Panhandle. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management activated the state emergency operations center as wildfire conditions and severe weather risks overlapped, pulling in emergency management, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma State Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma National Guard and other agencies.
Oklahoma Forestry Services coordinates wildfire suppression aircraft, state incident management teams and county wildland task forces through OEM, and it fields the state’s only Type II Incident Management Team. That cross-county system has become the backbone of the response as fires from Beaver County to the Oklahoma-Colorado border keep testing resources across the Panhandle.
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