In Texas and Oklahoma, a return to charred homes and destroyed towns

MIDWEST CITY, OKLA. —  Oklahomans and Texans returned home to charred buildings, ruined cars and glowing rock Friday in the wake of several drought-fueled and wind-driven fires, at least one of which was deliberately set, according to fire officials.

Three people died, well over 100 homes burned, and some small towns were turned largely to ash in the fires that raged Thursday in wildfires in western and central Oklahoma and in Texas. The fires were closer to containment Friday as winds that had reached 70 mph diminished.

More than 50 homes in and around the Oklahoma City suburbs of Midwest City and Choctaw were destroyed in what Midwest City Fire Marshal Jerry Lojka said was arson. He said authorities had not identified suspects or a motive. Fire investigators were trying to determine what caused the other fires.

The three deaths were in the tree-dotted grasslands of North Texas. One couple died when fire overtook their home near Montague, said Montague County Sheriff Paul Cunningham.

The victims were identified as retired television reporter Matt Quinn, who had worked for ABC News and WFAA-TV of Dallas-Fort Worth, and his wife, Cathy.

Another woman died after calling for an ambulance as a fire spread through an unincorporated part of the county. Her cause of death was unclear.

Dozens of homes were lost as the fire blackened more than 150 square miles of the state.

“We’ve lost communities, pretty much,” Cunningham said. “Stoneburg is pretty much gone.”

Residents fled Thursday as a wildfire tore through that town of 51 people and nearby Sunset, population 350. When Fred Blackwell came back to his 1920s-era brick home in Stoneburg, it bore little resemblance to the two-story building he had known.

“That rock was glowing,” said Blackwell, standing amid twisted tin and mounds of ashes. “I knew everything else had been burned down because there was nothing else around it.”

The National Weather Service said the fire danger remained high across North Texas on Friday, with dry conditions and wind gusts up to 25 mph.

“Any time you have high winds and low humidity, it’s just the perfect storm for wildfires, and that’s what’s happening here,” Oklahoma Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood said.

But the situation had eased considerably from Thursday, when in some areas winds were so strong that water-dropping helicopters were rendered useless.

“Today the Texas Forest Service is definitely on the offense, not on the defense,” spokeswoman Misty Wilburn said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue an emergency declaration that would provide federal assets and resources for 199 threatened counties. Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of emergency for 31 central and southern Oklahoma communities, which allows state agencies to speed the delivery of needed resources.

When Sammetra Christmon was allowed to return to her Midwest City home, she found only a smoking ruin. “The memories, the photos, this is the house I have worked all my life for,” she said Friday as she and her family picked through the smoldering debris.

Her 9-year-old daughter was taking it hard. “She’s devastated, just in tears this morning,” Christmon said. “This is the only house she’s ever known.”

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said a firefighter battling a blaze in Lincoln County, northeast of Oklahoma City, was hospitalized with burns, and another person was severely injured after losing control of a vehicle on a smoke-covered road in Stephens County in southern Oklahoma.