Published March 22, 2017
The Latest on a wildfire in eastern Oklahoma (all times local):
1:20 p.m.
Residents in eastern Oklahoma who evacuated their homes to flee a wildfire have been allowed to return.
Pittsburg County Emergency Management Director Kevin Enloe says more than 100 people in Longtown who had to leave after the blaze broke out Monday were back home Tuesday afternoon.
The fire destroyed at least nine other homes. Two evacuees were hurt, but the severities of their injuries were unknown. Enloe says those two plus a firefighter who inhaled smoke have been treated and released.
Enloe says the fire is about 25 percent contained. He says Oklahoma Fire Service firefighters are taking the lead in battling the blaze.
The McAlester News-Capital reported that air tankers pulled water from nearby Lake Eufaula to fight the fire. About 250 firefighters were involved Monday.
The small fire has burned about a square mile in Pittsburg and Haskell counties.
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7 a.m.
Fire officials are suggesting a blaze that has destroyed at least nine homes in eastern Oklahoma and forced the evacuation of more than 100 others may have been intentionally set.
Highway 9 Volunteer Fire Department chief Danny Choate told KOKI-TV in Tulsa that the fire likely began in two abandoned homes in Longtown, indicating "someone had to be down there doing something." Longtown is about 80 miles southeast of Tulsa.
About 250 firefighters battled the blaze that had burned about a square mile in Pittsburg and Haskell counties by Monday night. Fire crews say it has yet to be contained. The McAlester News-Capital reported that air tankers pulling water from nearby Lake Eufaula helped fight the fire.
One firefighter has been treated for smoke inhalation.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/the-latest-eastern-oklahoma-fire-evacuees-return-home