Payne County wildfires caused 8 years’ worth of damage in 12 hours, officials said

By Jason Burger

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    STILLWATER, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Ten days after wildfires ripped through Stillwater and Payne County, officials provided an update on how destructive those fires were.

Stillwater is giving the homeowners the option to demolish what is left of their home and start over.

“Over eight years’ worth of structure fires occurred in a 12-hour time period,” Chief Terry Essary with the Stillwater Fire Department said.

Essary and Stillwater Emergency Manager Rob Hill gave perspective on how large the March 14 fire event was. They said 26,301 acres burned.

“That’s from McElroy to 80th Avenue, and from Highway 86 to Western, just to give you an idea of the scope,” Hill said.

New data showed 229 homes were impacted, and 180 were completely lost.

“I had a conversation with one of my clients—and she was in the mandatory evacuation area, and police literally picked her up and carried her out of the house,” Councilman Kevin Clark with the Stillwater City Council said. “That’s who we are.”

City Council members praised the efforts of first responders and other city departments.

“There were 1,277 calls made or received through that dispatch center. That includes 366 wireless 911 calls, and none went unanswered,” Christy Driskell with the city of Stillwater said.

The city also set up a donations account.

“The money collected from the Stillwater relief fund will be used for unmet needs, for individuals impacted by the Payne County wildfires,” Stillwater Vice Mayor Amy Dzialowski said.

Officials said there were no fatalities.

The city will shift its focus to long-term recovery. Stillwater filed for a state of emergency on March 14, and the state filed for disaster declaration on March 21.

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce acknowledged the need for more wildfire discussions at future council meetings.

“When I got back home on Saturday, I started looking at how my landscaping was arranged and whether it was wildfire resistant and whether there were things I need to be doing at my house that we as a community will be talking about a lot,” Joyce said.

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