OCFD Warns Residents Conditions Are Prime For Grass Fires, Already Responded To Nearly 300 In July

With temperatures reaching triple digits and little rain, it's no surprise that fire crews have been busy in July. 

The Oklahoma City Fire Department says they have responded to nearly 300 grass fires just this month. Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson says the tiniest spark can erupt into a large fire. 

"We're a very large city with 621 square miles and a whole lot of that is pretty rural as we have a lot of places in our city with a lot of fuel load," said Battalion Chief Fulkerson.   

The weather conditions are making that fuel more readily available. 

"When grass becomes as dry as it is now, as brown as it is now, it can cause the fire to spread so much quicker because it's just a more volatile fuel that burns more readily," said Fulkerson. “You couple that with a day where we have low humidity. Anything under about 30% is a significant factor that coupled with the little bit of a wind, and the only thing you're missing at that point is the spark." 

OKCFD has responded to grass fires 289 times in July as of Friday. Almost 150 of those calls were on the 4th of July. 

"As recently as [Thursday] we actually had a fire that was started by fireworks," said Fulkerson. "Grassfires do take a lot of resources because they are so large geographically. All grass fires start small, but we've seen them grow beyond a square mile, or two, or sometimes even more." 

"You have to keep in mind a grass fire can be much more devastating than even just a house fire or a commercial fire alarm or just a building on fire by itself," said Fulkerson. 

The battle to put out the fire also takes its toll. 

"When it's really hot out like it has been. We're not superhuman. It's very difficult for these crews," said Battalion Chief Fulkerson. “A lot of times we'll send extra resources now so that we can rotate fresh crews in and out."