Fire On the Mountain.

Last Thursday as I headed home from an interim study at the Capitol I received word that one of my friends might be in jeopardy due to a fire that started on the wildlife refuge and had progressed toward Meers and the Mt. Village neighborhood which is just East of my friends place on scenic Highway 115. Of course I’m in a suit and was ill prepared to render much aid because I was in my car and not my pickup and was over an hour away but when I called and reached the Cooks’ Tammy was frantic and said that the fire had burned almost half way down Tarbone Mountain. Their place is called the Tarbone Ranch and it is a veritable paradise where our family has spent numerous weekends and many enjoyable campouts when our kids were in school together. When I asked if they needed anything her response was “I don’t even know.” I decided at that point that I was pretty useless in my car so I decided to go home and get on some work clothes and of course get a pickup. In the meantime, I fought the urge to go on out but I knew I had a friend who might be in jeopardy and I couldn’t just sit there. So I sent her a text and said “are you hangin’ on?” When I didn’t get a response the decision was made. I looked at Dede and said “I’m going” and she said “you probably can’t get in” I said “I bet I can.” So off I went long sleeved shirt, gloves, and toe sacks in the back of the pickup not knowing what I’d find when I got there or if I could be of any help but was dead set that I was gonna’ try. Fearing the worst I headed toward Meers. By this time the sun was low in the West as I approached the mountains I could see the glow of the fire on the horizon. I knew the wind had been a factor and was afraid that it might’ve blown the fire right into them. As I approached the Meers store from the East I fully expected a road block and found nothing but could smell smoke and knew that just around the bend would be flashing lights. By this time dark was setting very quickly and I continued, reaching the Meers store all seemed well and I made the curve, headed north, still no flashing lights or fire fighting vehicles. It was almost eerie as I knew full well there was a major fire and the question was where is this fire? I proceeded North to the curve and could see the lights on top of the wind generators but still no fire and then as I turned back West and made a couple of miles I topped the hill and at the entrance of Mt. Village were several emergency vehicles with lights flashing and as I got closer to the Cooks’ corner, right at their gate, I saw a sea of flashing red and blue and I have to tell ya’ I feared the worst. The last time I had talked to the Cooks’ Tammy said she was wetting down the house with water hoses and Ken was trying to plow a fire break around their house which is nestled in the middle of the beautiful 300 acre Tarbone Ranch surrounded by scrub oak, native grassland and some awfully rough terrain. I was relieved to see another long time friend Brian Demarcus whose ranch gate opens just a hundred yards or so from the Cooks’ gate and when I got out I asked Brian if everyone was ok and he said yes, the fire seemed to be moving East. At that point the wildlife refuge fire crew who seemed to be coordinating the effort was trying to decide how best to attack this huge fire that seemed to be engulfing the whole area and they were getting the logistics together on where to send dozers and graders and how to set strategically placed back fires to do their best to consume the fuel in the path of the fire to have a chance to stop natures fury. By this time I was close enough to Tarbone Mountain to look south and see flames as it burned its way down toward Tarbone Ranch and the Demarcus place and several other surrounding areas. It was eerie in the dark as you looked towards Tarbone you couldn’t help but think that must be what a volcano must look like as it erupts and the liquid fire and molten lava washes down the gullies of a mountain range. Fire in the mountains is a much different animal than a flat land range fire. The biggest challenge is accessibility. The biggest worry in a flat land fire is possibly running a truck into an unseen gully or hitting a tree stump in the dark. In the mountains many times you can’t even get the truck to the fire so it makes the job of saving homes and property even tougher. The chances of getting trapped in a mountain fire are even greater as well as many other hazards most people would not even think about such as rattlesnake bites from an angry reptile whose sleep was interrupted by the fire and is running just as scared as any other animal in that forested area. Of course by this time of night many of the volunteer fire fighters on hand had already put in a days work at their jobs and were looking at a long night of trying to save property and people. It’s just been one of those years. As I’ve said before there’s not much fuel at my house as our pastures are grazed slicker than a cue ball but in those mountains there is enough fuel to reek havoc and that’s exactly what it was doing. I headed home late Thursday night with the Cooks’ at least temporarily safe and prayed for the wind to lay which it finally did and called back Friday morning to check the status only to find out it seemed the fire had gotten closer to them but at least in the daylight there’s a chance and a little bit less risk of injury from hazards hidden in the dark. Little did I know that later that afternoon I would be in the middle of one of the wildest fires I’ve ever seen in my life. The wind had shifted and picked up and some of the areas like Mt. Village and Tarbone were now directly in the path of the fire with the excessive wind and extreme dry conditions things had changed dramatically. Road blocks had been set up and evacuation was under way. I headed back out about noon working my way back up toward the Cooks’ place. Tammy had gotten the boat and their camper and as many keepsakes as she could and tried to get them far away from the oncoming fire. I finally reached her by phone and she said “the fire is coming; Ken and the boys are still down there trying to save the house.” This time I was dressed for it and headed back to Tarbone for what would become the wildest firefight I’ve ever seen in my life. There were firefighters from all over the place lined up at the Meers fire department filling trucks from tankers that had been staged to make sure that water wasn’t an issue and those trucks were being dispatched as quickly as possible to try and save as many homes as they could. I’ve never seen fire change directions so many times or engulf a grove of trees as furiously as this fire did. There is no way that words can describe the helpless feeling that you get when you see a fire roaring towards you. You’re standing there with a garden hose and a wet toe sack knowing you can’t win and then almost out of nowhere comes a brush truck through the flames just when you thought you’d lose the battle and a building would burn. I could write a book on the events of that afternoon but the good news for the Cooks’ is that we were able to save their house and outbuildings but it burned everything else on that pristine 300 acre wild game reserve. That chapter of the fire claimed eleven houses and absolutely scorched the earth. The fact that any homes were saved is nothing short of a miracle. Day 4 of the fire moved the whole operation West where the fire threatened the Treasure Lake job corps center, Phelan Ranch and even the town of Indiahoma. I went to the command center at the Indiahoma School Monday night and after heading out to the fire with the civil defense director, Clint Wagstaff, I knew that the fire would soon be under control because it was coming out of the mountains. They had cut the fire breaks and done enough back burns and had in essence drawn a big enough line in the sand that would be the point that firefighters gained the upper hand. The command center at Indiahoma, in true small town fashion, was an oasis for tired firefighters. I think every FFA mom that knew how to make sandwiches had set up shop. It was all hands on deck with the FFA kids hauling ice and water and making sure that those tired firefighters had something to eat and a place to cool their heels. It was an amazing atmosphere where everyone did what they could and just flat worked their guts out to contain a wildfire of epic proportions. Who gets the credit? EVERYBODY! I’m a proponent of fire as a range management tool but a controlled burn and a wild land fire under extreme drought conditions are two very different animals. So, by all means, pay attention to every thing you do that involves even the smallest spark. And pray for rain.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
How is it that one match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box of matches to start a campfire? -Christy Whitehead