Story highlights
The fire near Guthrie is one of several to break out in the state
No injuries have been reported
The fires are being fueled by hot, dry weather and high winds
A fast-moving wildfire destroyed at least 20 homes near Guthrie, Oklahoma, on Sunday – one of several fires to break out amid unseasonably high temperatures and windy conditions in the state, officials said.
The Guthrie blaze was about four miles long and up to a mile wide, and was burning a largely rural area, Logan County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Richard Stephens told CNN.
“It’s growing so fast it’s pretty hard to estimate,” Stephens said. “There are a lot of cedar trees, they have a lot of oil in them and they just explode.”
Guthrie Fire Chief Eric Harlow put the fire’s size at between 3,000 to 4,000 acres.
No injuries were reported, but some firefighters and residents were overcome by the heat and smoke while fighting the fire, Harlow said. Those people were treated at the scene.
People were trying to evacuate a large number of livestock, according to Stephens.
The fire was the largest of several in the state that are being fueled by temperatures in the 90s and high winds, said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
“They got three ingredients for a bad fire: high temperatures, high winds and low humidity,” said Daryl Williams with the National Weather Service in Norman.