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High winds continue to threaten Oklahoma following destructive fires

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Days after deadly fires swept across Oklahoma, Andrine Shufran and her husband spent Monday raking through the ashes of their home in a neighborhood that she said “looks like a checkerboard” as officials warned that high winds this week will again raise wildfire risk in the state.

“There’s no predictability or fairness about destroyed houses,” Shufran said. “There’s only two options for the homes in our neighborhood: standing or burned to the ground.”

Over 400 homes were severely damaged or destroyed in the outbreak of wildfires that started Friday in Oklahoma. At least four people died due to the fires or high winds, including a person who died in a vehicle accident as a result of poor visibility due to dust or smoke, officials said.

While calm weather over the weekend helped crews get a handle on most wildfires burning across Texas and Oklahoma, forecasters at the National Weather Service said extremely critical fire weather conditions were expected Tuesday over an area spanning from southeastern New Mexico through the Texas Panhandle and into western Oklahoma.

“These fires, once they get started, become really hard to stop,” said Keith Merckx of Oklahoma Forestry Services. “They move more quickly than our resources can keep up with.”

He said officials will be returning their attention toward western and central Oklahoma, where high winds are expected to pick back up again over the next few days.

In Stillwater, a city of about 50,000 about 65 miles northeast of Oklahoma City and home to Oklahoma State University, over 70 homes were destroyed by wildfires. The toll included Shufran’s house, which burned to the ground in a matter of hours.

The smell of plastic lingered as she and her husband sifted through the remnants of their home.

Shufran, a director at Insect Adventure — a petting zoo part of OSU and the university’s extension campuses, said current and former students, friends and city officials have stepped in to help her and her husband.

“I’ve been more overwhelmed by how fantastic Oklahomans are when they’re friends with you, or neighbors with you, because we’ve had so many people reach out,” Shufran said.

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce warned on Facebook on Monday afternoon of worsening fire conditions in the area.

“Be prepared to take action quickly, if necessary,” he wrote.

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