Fires Singe Parts Of Texas, Okla.
Driest Weather In Decades; Elderly Woman Dead, Homes Destroyed
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Play CBS Video Video Raging Southwest Wildfires High winds and unseasonably dry weather have fueled flames across Texas into Oklahoma. Jim Axelrod reports that dozens of homes have been destroyed, and at least one person was killed.
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Video Grass Fires Jim Axelrod reports dry conditions and high winds have combined to create rapidly spreading brush fires in Texas and Oklahoma.
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Video Grass Fire Rages In Okla. CBS News RAW: Grass fires marched across parts of central Oklahoma, engulfing some homes and injuring firefighters and bystanders.
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A mobile home is completely engulfed in flames in South Arlington, Texas, Dec. 27, 2005. (AP)
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Roger Hinkle stares at the burning remains of the home he shared with his father, Dec. 27, 2005, in Cross Plains, Texas. (AP/The Reporter-News, R.Erdrich)
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Michelle Easton, left, and her mother Marsha Johnson watch as a grass fire jumps the road near Hunker Terrace in Mustang, Okla., Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2005. (AP)
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Firefighters attempt to save a house in Colleyville, Texas, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2005. (AP)
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"We've even had people out with just milk jugs filled up with water and just doing what they could, hoping that just the least bit of water they could put on the ground would possibly save their homes, save their structures," Warner said.
After the flames passed, residents emerged and were "watering their yards and standing in their yards," said Harold Percival, who lives about a mile from the Mustang fire.
"It just kept jumping. I've never seen anything like it," said Maria Vantour-Smith. They were able to remove a few antiques and other items from the home before it was gutted.
Temperatures throughout the country were about 10 to 20 degrees warmer than usual, reports CBS News' Early Show weatherman Dave Price.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry deployed state firefighters, ordered use of Texas Army National Guard assets and requested assistance from the U.S. Forest Service. Firefighters from at least three other states were called in to help.
Perry issued a disaster declaration Tuesday after at least 73 fires were reported burning in the northern and central parts of the state.
Children playing with fireworks days before the New Year apparently started fires Tuesday in Granbury and Kennedale, near Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Fire Department Lt. Kent Worley said crews had fought nine brush fires during the first half of the day alone. His department also helped battle a blaze in nearby Kennedale, where two apartment complexes were evacuated.
"It looked like the world was on fire," said Stapp, whose department joined others in fighting the blaze. "There were flames 30 to 40 feet high, just a wall of flames."
In Hood County, Texas, a fire near Canyon Creek forced at least 100 people to evacuate, said Chief Deputy Jerry Lind. He said several structures were on fire, and propane tanks had exploded.
Jane Hankins, whose home in Mustang, Okla., was charred, wept and hugged a friend as she watched orange flames leap from the roof of the house she and her husband shared for 13 years.
"We worked long and hard on this house," Hankins said. "But that's OK. Nobody was hurt."
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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