a fire in the texas panhandle

[oumartin]

and a 50 mph wind and I can smell the freakin' smoke and the sky is almost black.
SB68, I bet you can smell it too.

[olevetonahill]

and a 50 mph wind and I can smell the freakin' smoke and the sky is almost black.
SB68, I bet you can smell it too.
No matter what SAVE the WIFE and the video camera :cool:

[oumartin]

yeah, no worries there bud.

[oumartin]

freakin' ashes are landing on my driveway and its just nasty outside

[RacerX]

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought Norm was cooking steaks.

[SoonerBorn68]

I was going to start a thread about this. The entire horizen is glowing orange to my east. It looks like it could be closer. I went out to try to take a pic of it with the web cam but it was too dark.

I'm watchin' it pretty close.

[SoonerBorn68]

I'll bet that fire is more than 20 miles across. :eek:

[BajaOklahoma]

Be careful.

[proud gonzo]

dang.

[SoonerBorn68]

Oh, I'm lookin' out the window about every 10 minutes. My truck's backed in, so it's a straight shot off of location.

My wife PM'd to tell me to watch out...and that there is two escaped convicts from Anadarko that was spotted in Wheeler, last seen headin' toward Pampa...Tonight's been fun so far.

[BajaOklahoma]

How familar are you with the local roads?
do you have the number for the local sheriff's department? Maybe call them and find out how close it really is - and to let them know you are there....

[oumartin]

Nothing I enjoy more than working midnights alone than the thought of escaped convicts looking for a place to hide. I'm within' 15 miles a minimum security prison.
wind still blowin' 90 to nuthin' out there sb68

[SoonerBorn68]

How familar are you with the local roads?
do you have the number for the local sheriff's department? Maybe call them and find out how close it really is - and to let them know you are there....

Local roads = 2. FM283 goes SE to Miami & I-70 goes to South to Pampa & north to where ever. So the choices are pretty easy.

The crew is watching from the rig & have already told us they'd let us know if we're goin' to bug out.

So far the orange glow looks like it's about 10-15 miles away.

Thanks for the concern.

[BajaOklahoma]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/13/D8GAG0B80.html


4 Dead in 9-Car Crash Amid Texas Wildfires
Mar 13 12:16 AM US/Eastern
Email this story

GROOM, Texas


Dense smoke from a raging 300,000-acre wildfire reduced visibility on a Texas Panhandle interstate, leading to a multi-vehicle crash that killed four people and injured six, officials said.

The blaze _ which rivals in size the fires that blackened thousands of acres of grassland and killed three people in late December and early January _ forced the evacuation of eight towns, said Warren Bielenberg, a spokesman for the Texas Forest Service.

"This is probably one of the biggest fire days in Texas history," Bielenberg said.

The crash involved nine vehicles on Interstate 40 near Groom, about 40 miles east of Amarillo.

"Somebody stopped because of the smoke and, of course, another vehicle hit them and another vehicle hit them," said Daniel Hawthorne, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety in Childress.

After the crash, officials closed an 89-mile stretch of Interstate 40 because of the low visibility, Hawethorne said. Traffic was initially diverted to U.S. 287 but that highway was later closed because of fires as well, he said.

Winds gusting upward of 55 mph kept water-dropping planes and helicopters grounded when the blazes began Sunday morning, Bielenberg said.

Mandatory evacuations were issued for the cities of Lefors, Skellytown, Miami, Wheeler, Hoover, McLean and Old and New Mobeetie, he said.

A separate 70,000-acre grass fire burned Sunday in nearby southeastern New Mexico, prompting evacuation orders for up to 200 people and injuring one man.

The fire burned the post office in McDonald, N.M., and several other buildings, officials said. A state road was closed and residents in McDonald and Prairie View, N.M., were told to leave their homes.

A man who suffered burns while trying to put out the fire was taken to a Lubbock, Texas, hospital where he was in stable condition, officials said.

Authorities didn't know what sparked the blazes in either state.

[picasso]

wow, the wind is blowing like a mofo here on the lake. be safe folks.

[oumartin]

and what lake would that be?
here in northwest oklahoma the wind has been outa the east for about 16 hours straight at no less than 35mph.. Its the succ

[SoonerBorn68]

Mandatory evacuations were issued for the cities of Lefors, Skellytown, Miami, Wheeler, Hoover, McLean and Old and New Mobeetie, he said.

That's us! But I guess we don't count. :(

[SoonerBorn68]

well, about 15 miles...

[sanantoniosooner]

That's us! But I guess we don't count. :(
Don't worry dude.

It's just a fire.

You'll be safe in an oilfield.

[oumartin]

so, let me know when its gets over here in oklahoma.. nothing like seeing a natural gas plant on fire.

[yermom]

damn... be safe guys

sounds like i'd have already headed for the hills :eek:

[SoonerBorn68]

Update:

Well, the fire's headed this way. I got some pics with the webcam, but they're not very good. I'm kinda packing my stuff just in case.

[BajaOklahoma]

Are you still there or are you gone yet?
Be safe guys.

[SoonerBorn68]

Naah, we're still here. For some reason the fire went away...Must have been because the 30 or so fire trucks & bulldozers over the hill. ;)

We're fine.

[oumartin]

glad to know you guys were safe. The wind finally died down here at around 2:00 this morning. I can't imagine what those guys were going through fighting that fire. Funny, I had to start a fire due to the wind last night. It blew our process flare out and it took me forever to re-light the darn thing in the wind.