Fire Chief Says Faster Wildfire Air Support Could Have Prevented Mooreland Evacuation Orders

About two hours after a fire near Mooreland started, city fire chief Travis Case made a request for air support to douse the flames. 

“Once the fire got into the canyon, there's not much that we can do with a pickup,” Case said.

Case called Matt Lehenbauer, the Woodward Counter Emergency Management Director, to request air support. The request began a multi-agency approval process that was “really frustrating,” according to Case. 

The approval process for wildfire air support begins with local officials such as a county emergency management director and requires the approval of the Oklahoma Forestry Services and the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. The governor must sign off on the request before state National Guard helicopters can be deployed to a fire. 

In Woodward, Case made the request to Lehenbauer at 6:31 p.m., Monday, July 25, and received the governor’s approval at 5:18 p.m. Tuesday. 

The National Guard deployed helicopters Wednesday morning, about 39 hours after Case’s initial request. 

The fire burned roughly 21,000 acres and prompted an evacuation order.

Related: Woodward Emergency Management Issues Evacuation Order For North & East Of Mooreland

“We knew we had lost control of it by 6 p.m. (July 25), and we’d expended all of our local resources on it,” Lehenbauer said. “And that’s when the incident commander requested the aircraft.” 

Lehenbauer told News 9 his initial ask to ODEMHS for air support was “denied.” However, the agency coordinated assistance with OFS.

Keli Cain, an ODEMHS spokesperson, said the agency refers to OFS to determine the best method of response for wildfires and does not approve or deny air support itself. 

Cain said the agency did not deny a request for air support on July 25. The phone call was not considered a formal request, she said. 

OFS deployed personnel and a bulldozer on Tuesday morning from eastern Oklahoma, which arrived around 3 p.m. in Woodward County.

Approximately 90 minutes after OFS personnel arrived on the scene, which was around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the agency contacted ODEMHS to request air support.

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed off on the request at 5:18 p.m., Cain said.

Case told News 9 that a faster response time could have helped them control the fire on Tuesday. 

“I really don't feel like we would have needed the evacuation,” Case said. 

The ODEMHS declined an on-camera interview for this story.