PAWNEE — Multiple fire agencies responded to a wild fire in Pawnee Sunday, Aug. 9. According to Pawnee County Emergency Manger Chris Chailer, Pawnee Fire Department crews were working for hours in extreme heat and difficult terrain before the Lake Area Task Force was activated to provide additional personnel and equipment.
The initial response included firefighters from the Pawnee Fire Department, Pawnee Nation Fire Department, Maramec Fire Department, Ralston Fire Department, Glencoe Fire Department and Morrison Fire Department. Chailer, who deployed the Lake Area Task Force, said the initial crews had already been working the fire for some time before the task force was notified.
“They were getting wore out,” he said when asked why mutual aid was requested. “They were out there for three hours before we got there.”
Additional resources through the Lake Area Task Force activation brought in apparatuses and personnel from the Sand Springs Fire Department, Keystone Fire Department, Basin Fire Department, Green Country Fire Department, and Cleveland Fire Department. Bureau of Indian Affairs firefighters also responded and assisted with the firefighting effort.
Major challenges with the fire included severe heat and difficult terrain. Chailer said the fire was in an area that was tenuous to traverse with little to no accessibility. The extreme temperatures also took a toll on firefighters requiring crews to work carefully as they battled the blaze.
“I think the big part of it was the heat,” Chailer said. “It was hot… Scorching.”
He said conditions during a fire can change quickly which makes coordinated responses and additional manpower especially important.
“Things change in an instant,” said Chailer.
As the firefighting operation continued, a local dozer operator assisted crews by constructing a dozer line along the west side of the fire. Firefighters then conducted a strategic burnout operation from the dozer line which successfully stopped the fire’s westward progression and helped protect additional property. The fire burned through grassland and wooded areas but Chailer said no structures were damaged.
On Monday, Aug. 10 Chailer said that incident command had reported the fire was approximately 95 percent contained as of 1 a.m. with the coordinated efforts of the responding agencies, task force personnel, BIA firefighters, and local equipment operators having significantly slowed the fire and protected surrounding property.
Following the incident, officials urged residents to exercise extreme caution as hot and dry conditions continue to increase the risk of fires and that anything producing heat, an open flame, or sparks can potentially ignite a fire under current conditions.