Local Crews Help Knock Down Caddo County Fire

HINTON – A large wildfire erupted last week west of Hinton, forcing evacuations and burning hundreds of acres before finally being controlled by the weekend.

The Hog Farm Fire started Thursday afternoon, officials said, and ultimately consumed about 845 acres. Watonga and Geary firefighters responded to the blaze along with many other departments including Lookeba-Sickles, Hinton, Weatherford, Hydro and more.

Mark Goeller, director of Oklahoma Forestry Services, said the fire was called in Thursday around 2 p.m. about 5 miles west of Hinton. By later that afternoon, some locals were asked to evacuate the area as “a number” of homes were threatened, Goeller said.

Crews were able to keep the homes safe, however. The Hinton Fire Department reported that one camper trailer and five outbuildings were lost in the blaze, but no injuries were reported.

Hinton FD estimated that 18 to 20 departments responded to fight the fire on Thursday, with 12 departments returning on Friday as crews continued to mop up the flames. Goeller said the fire was 50% contained on Friday and then 90% contained by Saturday, ending the major threat.

Local crews responded to the area Thursday with wild land engines, while road graders were used to build containment lines on the east side of the fire. “We (Forestry Services) came in on Thursday with some of our firefighting bulldozers to get into the timbered areas,” Goeller said, “to stop the fire from advancing to the south and east.”

The wind shifted overnight into Friday and Forestry Services worked to establish control lines through the rougher, dense terrain south of the fire. “As fire behavior picked up Friday morning and going into the afternoon, we had control lines already established and kept that from progressing to the south,” Goeller said.

Crews had surrounded the fire with control lines by Friday afternoon, but continued to patrol that evening and the following morning before declaring the fire contained and controlled.

Despite the soaking rains of the past few days, Goeller said western Oklahoma isn’t “out of the woods” yet when it comes to fire danger.

“We’re going to have to have continued moisture every couple of weeks, at least, to maintain that fuel moisture. Otherwise, you just think about that soil moisture. How long has it been since we’ve experienced good rainfall in western Oklahoma? Quite a while. … Before long, those green fuels get to a point where they’ll also sustain combustion. So we’re watching this situation very closely, especially in those areas that have not received adequate moisture to sustain growth for a long period of time.”

As of Tuesday, the cause of the Hog Farm Fire had not been determined.