Mooreland Firefighters Frustrated By Delay In Air Support

The Moorland Volunteer Fire Chief Travis Case says he is frustrated by the delay in air support to fight the growing wildfire burning in Woodward County.  

 "We need more helicopters. Everything we got right now is in the canyons and the canyon fingertips are burning right up to the edges of our town,” he said. 

80 homes evacuated Wednesday afternoon after local fire managers said the roughly 20-thousand-acre fire shifted with the winds toward the town of Mooreland. 

"I've got houses down here all the way down this blacktop and I don't have any way to protect them,” he said.  

Case said his requests for air support were declined multiple times before two National Guard choppers were dispatched Wednesday morning.  

 "We do pretty good up here and carry our own but when we call up for help, it's not because we want to sit back and watch a helicopter fly over it,” Case said.  

Additional support arrived Wednesday afternoon, two fixed wing planes to dump water.  

"This 105-degree heat, extremely low humidity, that's what's really causing this fire to spread. Plus, the area behind us, heavy cedar trees and a lot of valleys,” said Woodward County Emergency manager Matt Lehenbauer.  

The fire is at zero percent containment Wednesday afternoon.