Beggs City/Rural Fire

03/23/2026

Beggs Fire actually only had one fire in our area today. Now we received quite a few calls from people who thought there was a fire close to them however the smoke was from fires in northern counties. So there were not fires all over Beggs area. When the wind shifted it brought the smoke with it. The fire today was in an area that had a control burn Friday. That fire had a containment line around it and the owner had a burn plan and did everything the law requires. The fire was still contained Saturday morning and was out around the containment line. When the wind shifted today and low humidity it may have carried an ember from a tree however there is no way to really know.
Control burns are actually a good thing when done correctly. Most of the citizens in our area do an outstanding job in conducting controlled burns. Farmers and Ranchers have to do control burns to help with pastures to eliminate weeds and it puts nutrients back into the soil which helps cattle gain weight. It’s cheaper and healthier than spraying chemicals and spreading fertilizer. Controlled burns helps clean up the fallen leaves and dead limbs which if not cleaned up causes us a larger problem trying to control the fire in the future. The biggest thing that control burns help with in a wooded area is that it kills Ticks and Snakes which seem to be getting worse. I have been fighting fire here for 30+ years now and I have learned that a burn ban just hurts the farmers and ranchers that need to do it. The people who are carless and don’t know how to understand how low humidity and winds affect fires will just do it anyway. Kinda like a speed limit sign. Even with a burn ban there are exceptions to allow burning. We have actually been blessed in our area by not having fires. Some of the large fires that people are seeing are being conducted by us to reduce fuel loads and create future fire breaks around populated areas. In the past years when we had fires everywhere those were caused by an arsonist not citizens.

02/20/2026

Great teamwork and big hearts stopped this minutes from becoming an extremely large fire threatening many homes.

UPDATE 02/19/2026 1:30pm
Fire is contained crews are currely widening fire breaks and mopping up . There will be smoke in the area from smoldering trees in the burnt areas. Preston, Beggs, Twin Hills, Okmulgee Fire made a great knockdown of the fire to prevent it from spreading. Oklahoma Forestry is on scene assisting.

Crews are currently on scene of a large grass fire in the area oh Hwy 75 & 220 rd. Please avoid the area.nt

02/07/2026

Thank you to all the volunteers from Twin Hills, Preston and Nuyaka who left work to help the Beggs volunteers extinguish the fire today.

12/19/2025

A strong cold front today will move across Oklahoma elevating fire danger as gusty winds and dry conditions develop. Please avoid outdoor activities that may spark a wildfire!
Elevated fire weather will continue both Friday and Saturday afternoons holding high to very-high fire danger indices in place. Cold front and north winds today, Dry-Return Flow and south winds tomorrow, then another cold front with north winds on Saturday. Given the dynamic succession of weather patterns, please avoid outdoor burning activities through this period.
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11/15/2025

I would like to give a huge thank you to Preston, Nuyaka, Twin Hills, Mounds Fire Departments and Josh Hamilton for your assistance on the structure and grass fire. To all the Beggs Volunteers thank you for giving your time as well. We are truly blessed to have a great group of volunteers in the area to drop everything to help a neighbor.

11/14/2025

Even though he worked and retired from Okmulgee Fire Department he was always helping Beggs and Beggs Rural Fire since he lived in the community all his life. Last March when we had several fires going during 70 mph winds we didn’t even have to ask, he found us and jumped in a truck with no gear and no pay! He would do anything for anyone and do it with a smile and never complained. I am truly blessed to have had him as a true friend and to even claim him as family. Some of the best memories I have in the fire service involved Mike Rice. He was always like a big brother to me. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Sandra (mom) and his Daughter Cassy(sister)
Rick 😢

09/22/2025

Rest in peace Paul Simpson. Thank you for all your years as a fire fighter and State Rural Fire Coordinator. Even though you were not our coordinator you were always there to help us if we needed it. You will be missed but never forgotten.

04/14/2025

The area south of the fire station to 266th from Highway 75 east will be undergoing a controlled burn this evening beginning around 5:30. There will be smoke. The FD will have trucks on the highway and we are aware of this burn. Thank you.

03/15/2025

I would personally like to thank all the residents who helped us yesterday and brought us drinking water! All the volunteers with Beggs Fire who took off work to protect your neighbors. The following departments left their areas and homes to assist us when we had 6 fires at the same time. Nuyaka Fire, Slick Fire, Twin Hills Fire, Morris Fire, Preston Fire, Mounds Fire, Kiefer Fire, Liberty Fire, Okmulgee Fire, Glenpool Fire I hope I didn’t miss anyone but I lost track. Thank you so much for Tim Creighton the Retired County Emergency Manger for coming to my rescue when I needed help and obtained the resources we needed and to help manage so many calls at one time. The dispatchers that hung with us screaming on the radio and trying to manage the chaos. A huge thank you to Angie and Beggs General Store for the pizza and drinks, Chick -fil-A and McDonald’s in Glenpool for donating food to feed all the volunteers. Thank you to our firefighters wives and family for bringing us the food and water and obtaining the donated food Loren Box, Kayla Branson, Tracey Armstrong, Taylor Armstrong, Tobie Armstrong and Jackie Helton. In my 30 years on the department that was the worst conditions I have ever experienced and I thank the Lord and the hearts and dedication of the volunteers that we did not lose any homes.

03/11/2025

Arsonist Alert
We want to make the public aware and to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity.
On Monday afternoon we were dispatched to a grass fire near 180RD and Seay Rd that was started at the road. This fire immediately threatened 3 homes and took volunteers from 3 departments to contain.
Monday night
-1130pm we were dispatched to 120rd and Howard rd to a grass fire that started at the road and threatened 1 structure. This fire took volunteers from two departments to contain.
1135pm we were dispatched to 9th street near the Beggs Lake for a large grass fire that started at the road and took three departments to contain.
We were told that an older model dark colored truck was seen in the area driving at a high rate of speed leaving the area. If anyone has any information please contact Beggs Dispatch. If you see anything suspicious please take note and watch the area incase a fire starts. We seem to have fires in the same area every year and if this person isn’t stopped it may very well get someone injured or worse.
With that being said right now the grass is dead and will burn even with the moisture we have received. This week the predicted winds, temperature and humidity are going to make it extremely high fire danger with Friday having winds in the 40+ mph range. With the ground being so wet we cannot fight the fire without getting stuck therefore we may not be able to stop it before it travels several miles.
Please help us by having dead vegetation and anything that can burn away from your house please make sure you have a garden hose ready to protect your home if needed.