Closed captioning of: Wildfires roar through Oklahoma
>>>
now from rain to exactly the opposite. a part of the country where it's been so hot and dry, the problem now is raging and drought-fed wildfires. nbc's janet shanlian is live tonight in
oklahoma city
. janet, good evening.
>> reporter:
brian, good evening. they're having a tough time getting a handle on these fires, they're
leap frogging
through communities. and with this persistent drought, something as small as a cigarette butt can set an entire neighborhood up in flames. for wind whipped wildfires.
>>
we had a lot of people and three dogs.
>> reporter:
they had an hour's warning. as lincecum surveys what might be salvageable, it's clear there's nothing.
>>
my dad lived with us the last eight years and he was a
world war
i hero and i had his pictures and his medals and all that.
>> reporter:
it was a hopscotch assault, one house burned out, one house untouched.
mother nature
is working against them. searing heat and gusting winds are --
>>
this helicopter is responding to one of the many flare-ups, there are
hot spots
all over this region and on each pass it drops more than 600 gallons of water. neighboring texas took a hit as well. at opossum kingdom lake, a fire cut off roads fueled by the same tinderbox conditions.
>>
in oklahoma that wind change claimed the home of steve anne and john belick. but what mattered most, their horses were spared.
>>
they're the kids, all the animals are the kids, so we had to make sure they were safe.
>> reporter:
firefighters from across the state are pouring in here and this
command center
is going to stay up and staffed all night long in hopes of preventing any further loss.
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