March 4, 2016
By Paul Joseph, Paragon Communications News Director –
A large grass fire with flames 60 to 80 feet high into the air shut down a major Western Oklahoma highway.
According to the Clinton Daily News, U.S. Highway 183 was closed Wednesday night for about five hours just north of Taloga.
According to Dewey County Sheriff Clay Sander, the fire actually started on Tuesday when it burned about 200 acres, but it reignited about noon on Wednesday scorching another 200 acres.
Officials at the sheriff’s office report no one was injured on either day in the huge blaze, however a number of motorists were understandably frustrated while they were waiting along the roadway. Sander says they understood later, however, when they were able to pass through the area and see the scorched acreage.
The highway was closed from about 5:40 pm on Wednesday night until 10:15 pm from Pee Wee Road to about two miles north of the South Canadian River bridge north of Taloga.
The fire is believed to have been started by a either a hot wheel bearing on a car or a cigarette thrown by a passing motorist.
Most of the burned property is reportedly owned by Leroy Stotts.
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