Guymon Firefighters Have Busy Weekend

Incident #1

Guymon Firefighters responded to a reported house fire on Saturday afternoon at 5:44pm at the address of 1509 N. James. On Fire units first arrival, found that back portion of the home with smoke and fire present. According to Assistant Fire Chief Grant Wadley, the occupants of the home were cooking on their back patio with a grill and a turkey fryer. While the grease from the fryer was getting hot, it began to melt the underneath side of the patio overhead which was constructed of fiberglass material. The fiberglass material melted and then dropped into the fryer causing flames then to melt the remaining fiberglass and then burn the patio roofing that was attached to the house.

Occupants were home and began to attempt to put the fire out themselves before calling 911, but the heat, flames, and damage were too much. The fire extended into the attic with smoke filling the entire house. The patio roofing was completely destroyed and Firefighters were able to stop the fire from damaging anything further into the home. No injuries were reported and the home was still save for the occupants to reside in.

Firefighters were on the scene for over an hour extinguishing this fire and assuring it had not spread to other parts of the house. Estimated damage to the home is $5000.

Incident #2

Guymon Firefighters again remained busy this weekend this time with a reported grass fire east of Guymon on Rd. 34.

Guymon Fire units responded Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm to a fire 1 mile south of Hwy 54 on Rd. 34. On fire units arrival, found an active grass fire along fence line path and beginning to burn into cattle pins. “Firefighters were quickly able to extinguish the fire and prevent it from approaching a nearby house”, said Assistant Fire Chief Grant Wadley.

The fire was called in by a citizen driving by on Rd. 34 and notice the smoke and flames from a pasture with no one nearby. The fire was caused by an electrical transformer on a power pole that had faulted. Evidence showed that sparks fell from the transformer area and caught the dry grass and weeds below on fire. The fire then aided by light winds and the dry conditions began to spread into a neighboring pasture where cattle pins were located. “No livestock were in the pins or even in the area at the time of the fire”, Wadley stated. An estimated 1-2 acres burned before Firefighters extinguished it all.

No injuries were reported and no structural damage occurred to the cattle pins. Tri-County Electric was contacted immediately and had service personnel at the scene handling the transformer issues before Firefighters departed the scene.

Incident #3

Multiple emergency calls from the Guymon downtown area reporting a large gas leak started the weekend off for the Guymon Fire Department and other agencies.

Late Friday afternoon at 5:30pm, multiple reports of gas leaks all over downtown began coming into 911 and the Guymon Fire Department. Moments after the calls began, some citizens and the Guymon Police Department found the cause of the horrible smell of natural gas. “What had occurred is a vehicle transporting the chemical Mercaptan had suddenly stopped at the traffic light at Hwy 54 and S. Main street with a valve open and causing an estimated 1-3 gallons of the product to spill onto the roadway”, said Assistant Fire Chief Grant Wadley. The vehicle driver was unaware of the spill and continued on driving. Guymon Fire Department Haz Mat team was called to the scene to deal with the product and the situation. Identification of the product was quickly made and actions to mitigate the spill were done.

Mercaptan is a chemical product that companies use during production of natural gas. Since true natural gas is odorless, Mercaptan is added at small amounts to form the rotten-egg smell so that humans can detect it by smell at very low levels. “This spill could be noticed by anyone in the downtown area or anywhere in Guymon south of the incident site”, Wadley stated. The spill was handled as appropriate HazMat Responders and overseen by State DEQ representative who was also at the scene. This small spill with a large smell took many agencies working together such as Guymon Police, Texas County Sheriff, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Guymon Utilities Department and Street Department, Texas County Emergency Management, ODOT, and the Fire Department HazMat team.

The one block of Main street between Hwy 54 and 1 ^st street was blocked off by Law Enforcement until the area was cleaned. With this spill no evacuations were ever indicated, but the strong gas smell in the downtown area and across town remained for several hours into the evening.