Grass fires whipped through Oklahoma and northern Texas on April 9, 2009, encouraged by drought and fanned by hurricane-force winds of up to 60 miles per hour.Houston Chronicle: High winds fueling Texas wildfires (April 9, 2009) Farms, churches, homes, agricultural facilities and chemical plants were decimated.KTEN.com: Wild Fires Across South Central Oklahoma (April 9, 2009) Parts of Interstate 35 were shut down, along with state highways and other roads.Houston Chronicle: High winds fueling Texas wildfires (April 9, 2009)
Oklahoma Fires News
Tulsa World: Residents scramble to escape fires (April 9, 2009)
Houston Chronicle: High winds fueling Texas wildfires (April 9, 2009)
KTEN.com: Wild Fires Across South Central Oklahoma (April 9, 2009)
Daily Contributor: High winds fan wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma (April 9, 2009)
MuskogeePhoenix.com: I-35 closed in north-central Oklahoma (April 9, 2009)
Dallas Morning News: 2 small towns devastated by Texas wildfires (April 10, 2009)
CNN: Oklahoma homes catch fire (Time: 0:47)
<script src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=dom&vid=/video/us/2009/04/09/vo.ok.wildfires.kwtv" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from CNN Video</noscript>
References
Fast Facts
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Drought and hurricane-force winds blamed for spread of blazesHouston Chronicle: High winds fueling Texas wildfires (April 9, 2009)
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Spread throughout south OK, including Midwest City and Lindsay
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Affected areas in TX included west Fort Worth, Rockwood Park, Bowie and Archer City
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In Carter County, OK the blaze caused an explosion at the Champion Chemical plant
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100 homes destroyed in Midwest City, OK, where the blaze was called the worst disaster in the area's history
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Over 800 residents were evacuated in Electra, TX, where a 500-acre blaze shut down State Highway 287Houston Chronicle: High winds fueling Texas wildfires (April 9, 2009)
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Near Lindsay, OK, fires spread for miles on either side of State Highway 76Tulsa World: Residents scramble to escape fires (April 9, 2009)
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In Archer County, TX, two separate blazes combined into a 4,000-acre fireHouston Chronicle: High winds fueling Texas wildfires (April 9, 2009)
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Weather Service advised people to report all wild fires sightings to local fire department or policeDaily Contributor: High winds fan wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma (April 9, 2009)
