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Hundreds of homes and other buildings were destroyed in Oklahoma, as fierce winds and wildfires swept the region.
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Dozens of Wildfires Scorch Parts of Texas and Oklahoma
More than 150 blazes were burning in Oklahoma alone, damaging many structures and hundreds of thousands of acres, and causing one death.
It was just a perfect storm. It was a — the humidity levels went down to record lows, below 10 percent, and then with the winds where they were, it just dried everything out. So we should have a couple good days in a row here to get all the fires out, because there’s a little bit of risk coming back and maybe Monday or Tuesday.
By Dana GoldsteinIsabelle Taft and Breena Kerr
Dana Goldstein and Isabelle Taft reported from New York. Breena Kerr reported from Oklahoma.
March 15, 2025Updated 5:26 p.m. ET
When Geraldine and Charles Wyrick heard shouts ring out through their community of a dozen trailer homes on Friday afternoon near Wellston, Okla., they knew the fires were near. It was time to get out.
As Ms. Wyrick rushed to her Chevy Tahoe, and Mr. Wyrick to his pickup truck, they noticed that a neighboring family of five did not have a working vehicle. They, too, scrambled into the truck, along with several dogs. In the chaos, there was no time to salvage any personal belongings.
On Saturday, talking at an emergency shelter in Stillwater, Okla., Mr. Wyrick, a 70-year old retired mechanic, said their home and entire neighborhood had likely been destroyed by the fire, alongside many of his prized possessions: a pontoon boat, three trailers and a tractor.
“It got everything,” his wife said.
From the Texas Panhandle to the suburbs of Oklahoma City, residents braced on Saturday to assess the damage after wildfires and smoke forced many to evacuate.
In Oklahoma, nearly 300 homes and other structures were destroyed, Gov. Kevin Stitt said at a news conference on Saturday. At least 50 of those structures were in Stillwater, home to about 50,000 people and Oklahoma State University.
Videos on social media showed houses consumed by flames. He described visiting neighborhoods where just a few homes had been spared, while the rest were little more than rubble.
