Wildfires destroy Oklahoma City homes
January 1, 2006

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- New Year's Day was no holiday for firefighters in Oklahoma and north-central Texas, with high winds driving fires into at least one Oklahoma City neighborhood Sunday night. Oklahoma City firefighters ordered residents of surrounding neighborhoods to evacuate after at least three homes burned in northeastern Oklahoma City.

In Texas, authorities ordered the evacuation of about 200 homes as high winds and heat fueled another day of wildfires across the tinder-dry prairie. Oklahoma's emergency management agency warned that residents faced "extreme fire weather conditions" again Monday, with the potential for fires to spread rapidly.

Wildfires have burned parts of 24 Oklahoma counties since Tuesday, and have claimed 250,000 acres of prairie and 200 homes since November, the agency reported. "We are extremely busy -- more so than we expected for this time of the year," state Fire Marshal Robert Doke told CNN.

Central Oklahoma has had only a quarter-inch of rain since the end of October, and forecasters predicted no relief in the next few days. A westerly wind was blowing "extremely hard" Sunday night, spreading embers across northeastern Oklahoma City, said Maj. Brian Stanaland, a Fire Department spokesman.

CNN
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