Volunteer Firefighters Play Crucial Role In Logan County

About 800 acres in Logan County are charred black. A grass fire started on Sunday, burning about 40 acres. Firefighters say it kept spreading and getting worse with the high winds and low humidity.

Coyle Fire Chief Michael Galbraith says 90 percent of responding firefighters were volunteers, including his own team. “Those guys have been here for the entire four days. I think most of them slept maybe three to four hours, got back up after getting to the station last night, to come back out this morning,” said Galbraith.

Meridian Fire Chief John Pross says that can be tough especially since most of the volunteers have other full time jobs. He said, “These guys go out of their way to come out here and risk their lives and leave their families to protect the people around them.”

Without volunteer firefighters, it would be tough to stop the fire from spreading. In Logan County, fire crews used more than half-a-million gallons of water, if not close to one million gallons.

Crews have brought in water back and forth for 18 hours a day in four days. Trucks have broken down. Managing the fire is taxing on volunteers.

Galbraith and Pross agree they are always looking for more volunteers. They say any fire station across Oklahoma would be happy to have more volunteer firefighters. And if not, they say even a simple donation of bottled water or Gatorade can go a long way, saving money for firefighting equipment.