Wildfires block paths of good Samaritans

No matter where she went Wednesday afternoon in the rolling Gypsum Hills of Barber County, Jamie Lonker found herself halted by fire.

Lonker, who lives in Medicine Lodge, had filled two barrels with water to take to firefighters battling the huge grass fires that have burned about 170,000 acres in Barber and Comanche counties.

“That’s what they requested, something to wash their faces off with,” Lonker said.

But no matter where she drove, fires cut off Lonker and other Good Samaritans trying to lend aid. They even drove through pastures only to be turned back by the flames.

“We were surrounded,” Lonker said Thursday. “It was pretty frantic there for a little bit. ‘You can’t go that way.’ ‘You can’t go that way.’”

Lonker finally led the impromptu caravan to safety by finding a safe route heading east.

“I know this area pretty well,” she said. “We were never so glad to see the light of day.”

At one point Wednesday, Lonker and some of her relatives raced to the ranch where her mother and brother have houses, desperate to grab any belongings and mementos before flames consumed the homes. But firefighters were able to save the houses.

“If they hadn’t set the back fires around both houses, we’d have lost them for sure,” Lonker said.

Other ranchers weren’t as fortunate. Damage was reported at Ted Turner’s Z Bar Ranch and on other ranches in the region, she said.

Fire crews “were just letting the grass burn and focused on saving the houses,” Lonker said.

Flames burned power poles and bridges, shutting down some roads and leaving power lines hanging. Lonker and others showed up with shovels to try to stop the fires, but couldn’t do anything.

“It was just way too out of control,” she said. “It’s just too big.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Wildfires block paths of good Samaritans."