Stepping outdoors in Oklahoma proper now’s like strolling by way of a tinder field of impossibly dry grass, cedar timber stuffed with extraordinarily flammable resin and excessive winds which have began a fire within the snap of a finger. Many of the wildfires this 12 months had began in rural areas and burned for days, threatening properties, livestock and livelihoods, with volunteer fire fighters battling the blazes by way of canyons and ravines.
(Photo by Jen Theodore through Unsplash.)
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The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Fire Department Matching Program has seen the fixed fire hazard the present drought has created and donated $61,300 to a number of rural fire departments within the state.
This program is a partnership among the many OKFB, the OKFB Foundation of Agriculture and OKFB Insurance. The donations are matched by county Farm Bureaus to native fire departments within the quantity of $450.
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“Oklahoma farmers and ranchers—many of whom are volunteer firefighters themselves—understand the importance of rural fire departments during an intense drought,” stated David VonTungeln, president of the OKFB Foundation for Agriculture. “We hope the funds donated will provide some relief to our local firefighters in the form of food, water or supplies.”
According to OKFB, 47 county Farm Bureau organizations participated in this system, donating various quantities to their native fire departments. Comanche County Farm Bureau led the cost with a complete donation of $20,000. The counties that participated in this system included: Beaver, Jackson, Oklahoma, Blaine, Kay, Okmulgee, Caddo, Kingfisher, Osage, Choctaw, Kiowa, Ottawa, Comanche, Latimer, Pawnee, Craig, LeFlore, Payne, Creek, Lincoln, Pottawatomie, Dewey, Logan, Pushmataha, Custer, Major, Rogers, Ellis, Marshall, Roger Mills, Garfield, McCurtain, Texas, Grant, McIntosh, Tillman, Greer, Murray, Washington, Harper, Noble, Washita, Haskell, Nowata, Woodward, Hughes and Okfuskee.
