A large wildfire in Oklahoma is growing, and now fire departments from Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma are joining together to fight it. As of late Saturday night, the fire was 13,000 acres in size, Oklahoma Forestry Services reported. Now it’s more than 29,000 acres in size. Here are details about the 412 fire, its location, maps, evacuations, and more. The fire has forced evacuations in Beaver and Forgan, Oklahoma so far.
Beaver & Forgan Have Been Evacuated
Late Saturday night, the fire was 13,000 acres in size and only 10 percent contained. Now it’s 29,130 acres in size and 50 percent contained.
Updates on fires can change rapidly. To stay updated on the latest about the fire, follow Oklahoma Forestry Services’ Facebook page.
Many people had to evacuate as the fire spread, helped by high winds in the area. The fire began in Beaver County Saturday around 10:45 a.m., Kansas.com reported. By 2:46 p.m., Beaver was being evacuated. By 4:05 p.m., Forgan, Oklahoma had to evacuate too.
This is the fire’s size from a satellite map when it was 10,000 acres. It’s now estimated at 13,000 acres.
The fire moved 14 miles on Saturday, ABC 7 reported. It was moving north, but has slowed a bit as of late Saturday night, KOCO news reported. Forgan is 10 miles from Beaver and both towns have a total population of about 2,000 between them.
A high school football field and other buildings were burned by the fire, Kansas.com reported. Marty Logan of News 9 said there were reports of hospital and nursing home patients being transported to Buffalo, Oklahoma and Meade, Kansas.
Logan noted that late on Saturday night, the fire was about 18 miles long and two to three miles wide and five structures were burned in Beaver.
This is a burn scar that could be seen from satellites.
This is another video that gives you an idea of the fire’s size.
Photos & Videos from the Fire
Here are photos and videos from the fire to give you a better idea of its size.
The above view is looking south of Forgan, which was evacuated.
Here’s a video of the fire.
Here’s a look at some of the damage from the fire.
And here’s another video.
And another video of the fire.
And here is a video of the fire at night.
Here are more photos:
In total, Oklahoma Forestry Services are fighting 19 active wildfires in the state. Other large fires include:
- Atoka WMA Fire in Atoka County at 905 acres and 75% contained
- Beaver Mountain Fire in Cherokee County at 116 acres and 90% contained
- Hooper Fire in Cherokee County at 302 acres and 90% contained
- Russell Mountain Fire in LeFlore County at 190 acres and 95% contained
- Henderson Ridge Fire in Latimer County at 327 acres and 95% contained
- North Persimmon Fire in Woodward County at 481 acres and 50% contained
To stay updated on the latest about the fire, follow Oklahoma Forestry Services’ Facebook page.