Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, working with his state's emergency management office, has authorized the deployment of the National Guard to combat forest fires that scorched areas in the southern part of the state, adjacent to Kansas.
"The Oklahoma National Guard stands ready and equipped with both aerial and ground capabilities to support our partner agencies across the state," said Brig. Gen. Bob Walter, the assistant adjutant general for Oklahoma.
The National Guard has deployed UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as well as ground crews to help fight the wildfires. The buckets carried underneath the Black Hawks carry up to 660 gallons of water and can be emptied with helpful direction from the ground teams.
“We have two wildland firefighting crews of eight to ten red-card-certified firefighters on state active duty working under the incident command,” Walter explained in a press release. Red card certified refers to the qualification course Guardsmen go to in order to become qualified forest fire fighters.
"I’m very thankful for the National Guard and the expertise they bring to this response," Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur said in a press release. "We appreciate the opportunity to work collaboratively with them."