ELGIN — The recent snowfall did little, if anything, to dampen the wildfire threat in southwest Oklahoma, Elgin Mayor JJ Francais warned Monday.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of acres in Comanche County and neighboring Kiowa County have been scorched by a series of fires fueled by dry grass and propelled by high winds.
Most recently, a large grass fire broke out Sunday in northwest Comanche County in the vicinity of Allison Road just south of Meers Porter Hill Road. High winds pushed the fire north into the Slick Hills.
At one time or another, Comanche, Kiowa, Caddo, Cotton and Stephens counties have imposed burn bans in recent months.
“Please, please, be extra vigilant and don’t burn trash or toss out a lit cigarette so long as conditions like these persist,” Francais said Monday. “Property and livestock are at risk, and so are the scores of volunteer firefighters and their equipment that have been summoned repeatedly of late to fight these fires.”