A wildfire that broke out near Martha, west of town in the river bed north of Highway 62, burned roughly 3,600 acres and remained active Tuesday. Federal fire officials said the fire was approximately 30 percent contained, with crews working to push containment to 60 to 65 percent by end of day.
Oklahoma Forestry Services and eight fire departments from Jackson County responded to the fire, along with crews from Altus. The Southwest Incident Support Team also sent a three-person team to assist overnight.
Bryce Boyer, communication director with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, said progress was being made.
“The fire came in about 3,600 acres last night with about 30% containment,” Boyer said. “From talking to my guys in the field and the progress they’re able to make today, they’re expecting by end of day today to be closer to 60 to 65% containment.”
Boyer said strong winds contributed to the fire’s rapid spread and forced crews to adapt quickly.
“A fire of this magnitude being able to get to 3,600 acres in a day, it’s moving quick,” Boyer said. “So that wind really just kind of pushed everything faster, which meant that our resources kind of had to be either increased or kind of just be really nimble.”
Boyer credited both firefighters and local officials for their response to the fast-moving fire.
