High Fire Danger Reminder Of Wildfires In Choctaw, Midwest City 2 Years Ago

Jon Jordan, News 9

CHOCTAW, Oklahoma – This weekend's extremely high fire conditions are a reminder to many of the devastating wildfires that broke out two years ago. In Midwest City and Choctaw over 50 homes were burnt to the ground.

While it's been two years since the wildfires raged in on the southeast side of the metro, evidence of the destruction still remains. Many of the homes have been rebuilt, but some haven't.

In the Oak Ridge Manor housing addition the neighborhood is just about back to normal. The neighborhood was one of several in Choctaw and Midwest City where wildfires destroyed homes, including Paul O'Hagan's house.

"Some houses where here and some weren't. Mine was one that wasn't here," Pat O'Hagan recalled when returning to his neighborhood after the fires in 2009.

Even though O'Hagan rebuilt his home and moved back in last summer, he said putting the fire behind him is impossible.

"We lost a lot of important papers. I'm a home builder and I lost all my paper work and we lost a lot of pictures, important things you can't replace," O'Hagan said.

The same wildfire that destroyed O'Hagan's Choctaw home nearly took out Larry Jacob's house in Midwest City.

"Front yard was on fire, back yard was on fire," Jacobs remembered.

Jacobs said when he was forced to evacuate his house with his wife and mother-in-law, he assumed he would never see it again.

"We just gave it up for loss. I mean we couldn't even see the drive way when we backed out of the garage. It was that dense," Jacobs said.

Jacobs said returning to his neighborhood was like returning to a war zone.

"It was almost like it was some kind of a bomb attack because a house here would be hit and then the next house would be fine and then the next two houses would be gone," Jacobs said.

Officials say someone intentionally started the fire but no one has been charged.

Midwest City Fire officials estimate the total damage to homes in Choctaw and Midwest City cost around $12 million.