Fire Departments Experience Rising Cost Surrounding Wildfires  

Volunteer fire departments in northwest Oklahoma have been working long hours of late due to wildfires. The longer hours are costing them thousands of dollars.

Fire spreading throughout thousands of acres sent billowing smoke throughout Roger Mills County earlier this week.

“It's been pretty bad the last couple of weeks,” Berlin Volunteer Fire Chief Rusty Miller said.

John Parrish is the treasurer. He said there have been days where they are battling three fires in two days, which is costing the department a lot of money.

“When you have abnormal fire numbers, you're going to have some consequences,” Parrish said. “Fighting these fires is hard on equipment, so there's that normal wear and tear. We put two tires on the front of a truck last week and it was, like, $800 a tire.” 

Aside from equipment, volunteer fire departments are taking a hit when it comes to fuel cost for a single fire.  

Robyn Taylor said her store is the stopping ground for many volunteer fire departments.

“It's closer to $15,000,” Taylor said. “Multiple fire departments were here. There were 40+ fire departments here across the state.”  

Parrish said they do receive money from the county through sales tax and some funding from the state. The money helps, but he said it's difficult to process for emergency situations.

“You have to go through and do all the paperwork, get a purchase order, receiving slip, etc.,” Parrish said. “We just don't have a credit card or something like that. It's doable. We can do fuel, but it's not convenient.”

Parrish told News 9 the best way to help volunteer fire departments is to donate.

You can donate to the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department by mail at P.O. Box 708, Cheyenne, Oklahoma 73628 or by calling the Hitchin Post.