Summary of Texas, Oklahoma Fires
By: Jay Gray, NBC
Updated: April 10, 2009
Major wildfires swept across Oklahoma and Texas Thursday destroying land and homes.
Flames ripped through Midwest City, Oklahoma, destroying dozens of homes in minutes.
"There's a lot of destruction in there. There are houses that are still burning," said Midwest City Fire Marshall Jerry Lojka Thursday night.
Wind gusts of more than 50 miles an hour pushed the string of wildfires that burned from North Texas through Oklahoma.
Flames jumped as high as 100 feet in the air at times, scorching thousands of acres of farm and brush land, swallowing buildings and equipment.
Jim Gardner of NBC affiliate KFOR described the scene from the air.
"We've lost three structures for sure, several out structures," Gardner said.
Blazing embers pushed by high winds sparked spot fires for miles.
Hundreds of homes and dozens of schools and businesses were evacuated.
Along with the flames, a thick blanket of smoke covered many of the hardest hit areas.
"The firefighters, at this point can not get down in there to get to those fires. The brush is so thick that they get the equipment in there, so they are basically having to wait for it to burn to them," said Lojka.
The smoke was so intense outside Stillwater, Oklahoma, it actually showed up on Doppler radar.
But the most severe images are from the dozens of communities across two states, trapped in the middle of a firefight and struggling to survive.
