2 Dead & 100 Homes Lost in Midwest Wildfires | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Friday, April 10, 2009

Midwest City, Oklahoma In Western and Central Oklahoma firefighters are continuing their battle against the raging wildfires.

"Wind is the biggest issue because we cannot get ahead of it. When you have gusts of 40 miles an hour and there is brush involved that picks those ambers up it creates a fireball that lifts it over the top of us and carries it a quarter of a mile past us where we are and then starts structure fires and cascades fences lawns and so forth," said Jerry Lojka with the Midwest City fire Department.

In the Oklahoma city suburb of Midwest City, entire subdivisions have burned to the ground.

The Norwoods' house was spared, but their neighbors were not so lucky.

"I feel so bad for Nate, our neighbors They have children that played with ours. We will do everything we can to help them," said Paul Norwood.

Erwin Knot watched as the fire quickly burned a path towards his home. He waited until the last minute before fleeing to safety. Part of his property was destroyed, but his house remains standing. "You leave it up to the good lord. He took care of me."

The wildfires triggered evacuations in towns across Oklahoma and shut down parts of Interstate 35. "I did whatever I could. There is not a lot you could do. But then they tried to evacuate everybody, get all people out of there," said evacuee Shane Willerd.

Friday morning, the fires became deadly. In northern Texas, a couple was killed when flames tore through their rural home.