OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Authorities in northwestern Oklahoma are evacuating roughly 100 square miles in northern Woodward County as a wildfire spreads rapidly toward the small town of Freedom.
Woodward County Emergency Management director Matt Lehenbauer said around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday that the fire was burning uncontrolled about one or two hours away from Freedom, a town of about 300. It was pushed by winds gusting around 40 miles per hour.
Lehenbauer says the fire is threatening homes and an iodine-manufacturing plant. Officials don't believe the plant would be a significant explosion risk, but it could produce environmental hazards.
Officials estimate the fire has burned roughly 20 miles of rural land. More than a dozen fire departments and Oklahoma Forestry Services were fighting the blaze.