Commissioners voted Thursday morning to put Sequoyah County under a burn ban after dozens of fires broke out on the Fourth of July.
Six different departments responded to fire outside Muldrow Thursday afternoon. The fire destroyed an estimated 150 acres.
Weary firefighters worked through the night this Independence Day. “Firemen were out until about 2 this morning,” said Jim Rogers, county commissioner.
“Both of our dispatch centers were flooded with reports of fires,” said Ed Henshaw, Sequoyah County Emergency Management Director.
County leaders estimated crews put out about 40 fires Wednesday. “We expected some extra fires because of the fireworks and the heat and the drought, but we didn’t expect that many,” said Henshaw.
Sequoyah County commissioners called an emergency meeting Thursday morning. Around 10 a.m. they voted to put the county under a burn ban.
“After the results of last night we felt probably the best decision we could make today would be coming in and putting a burn ban on it,” said Rogers.
5NEWS asked why county leaders did not implement a burn ban sooner.
“We want them to be able to celebrate America's birthday," said Rogers. "There's a lot of money that's been spent on fireworks.”
Thursday’s fire burned an outhouse, but did not damage any homes. Crews did not have to evacuate anyone. No one was injured in Thursday’s fire.