Yesterday we heard a bunch of frantic calls from firefighters working on a large grass fire northwest of nearby Roff, Oklahoma. I headed that way, expecting to see a smoke plume to which I could navigate, but by the time I got down there, the fire was mostly contained. I called Pontotoc County Emergency Management Director Chad Letellier to get a location and he told me it was near the intersection of county roads 3445 and 1610, “Except that the bridge is out on 1610, but you can take a little shoo fly around it.”

As I got close, I started hearing chatter on the fireground frequency, 154.355Mhz, which is a simplex (car-to-car) channel, so I knew I was getting close. At the scene, I turned onto a two-track farm trail and flipped on the all-wheel drive.

As I approached a creek, I saw some of the brush trucks coming out, so I pulled over and got out to make a few images. On the frequency I heard, “That’s The Ada News. Who got their pictures taken?” I smiled at that.

I drove deeper onto the ranch, then parked and walked another 200 yards or so to a wooded area that was still smoldering.

I think of myself as living in the country, which I do compared to the suburbs or a city, since Abby and I live on a seven-acre patch in a town where we can burn brush and shoot our guns. But then I go on these assignments, and see what it must be like to really live in the country.

Speaking of the small town web, here is another fun one: the Ada Cougar cheerleaders wore t-shirts to a wrestling match recently, and on the shirts was the picture I shot of them in May…