Oklahoma wildfires: Families sifting through ash for keepsakes after homes destroyed

GUTHRIE — The smoldering rubble was still too hot on Saturday afternoon for Margie Clark or her son, Donnie Clark Jr., to dig for the one precious item they hope to find in what is left of their home.

Margie, 82, left without the wedding ring her late husband gave her 65 years ago. The ring was left behind as the Clark's evacuated in a rush on Friday afternoon as wildfires crept onto their property on the southern edge of Logan County,

It was in her bedroom on the second floor of the A-frame house Don Clark Sr. had built himself in the early 1990s.

The Clarks hope to return to the plot of land that has been in the family since Margie’s great-grandfather claimed it in the Land Run of 1889.

Their primary goal for now, though, is finding that ring — because everything else is gone.

Margie’s immense porcelain doll collection, the document signed by President Benjamin Harrison deeding the property to her family after the Land Run, decades-old family photos, her clothes and her hearing aids.

“Devastating,” Donnie Jr. told The Oklahoman on Saturday. “All the work of my dad’s, gone. …Everything’s just gone. My mom doesn’t have pictures of me and my sister as kids. Pictures of my great-grandmother, gone. All those things are never gonna come back.”

More: How to help Oklahoma City and Logan County residents impacted by the fires

Oklahoma wildfire in Logan County burned between 2,500 and 3,000 acres

Wind-charged wildfires torched property from Edmond to Guthrie on Friday, and hot spots still burned on Saturday while many families tried to cope with the destruction. More thorough damage assessments from emergency officials and impacted Oklahomans already had begun.

On Saturday morning, Steven Haga, Logan County's emergency management director, estimated the Simpson Fire (named for its starting point at Simpson and Coltrane) had consumed between 2,500 and 3,000 acres.

Haga said the fire destroyed as many as three dozen structures, ranging from outbuildings to mobile and permanent homes. Two "very minor" injuries had been reported.

"We haven't gone out and done a damage assessment yet. We are planning on doing that mid-Monday morning," Haga said.

Haga said several hundred firefighters from as far away as Comanche and Pontotoc counties helped Oakcliff and Woodcrest Fire Departments battle Friday's fire, which jumped Interstate 35 less than a half-hour after starting.

By Saturday afternoon, most of the fires were gone, leaving behind a path of charred property and bewilderment.

'My little garden hose wasn't gonna do nothin'

Just north of the Clarks’ property, Shane Varnell sat on his porch on top of a hill that overlooks his land, trying to comprehend how his home was spared.

Fire had jumped the road in front of the house, but stopped at the edge of his curved, gravel driveway, instead traveling down the south side of the property within 3 feet of his sheds. To the north, the fire stayed along the tree line, but never crossed his fence.

Varnell and his wife, Natalie, had gathered up as much as they could fit in a trailer before evacuating on Friday.

“When we pulled out of here, just south of us 100 yards, the trees were already on fire, 40 or 50 foot tall flames,” Varnell said. “At that point, my little garden hose wasn’t gonna do nothin’.”

They drove off, knowing they might not have a home to return to.

By Friday evening, the Varnells learned they lost a truck and trailer, and had some other damage, including ash and smoke in the house, but the primary structures all remained.

“Man, the only way to explain this is the hand of God,” Varnell said.

A couple miles east, Richard Smith and his friend, Brix Young, dug through charred debris with a pitchfork on Saturday, looking for a rock — yes, a rock.

“Before we got married, my wife and I were watching a documentary about penguins and how the male penguin brings the female penguin a rock,” Smith said. “I was being funny one day and gave her a rock. She ended up keeping it all this time. Out of everything I lost in my house, that’s the one thing I really wanted to get out of here.”

Smith and his wife, Destiny, had cash and other valuables in the home, which was a total loss. Their 18-month-old daughter Harper lost all her clothes and toys. But as they dug on Saturday afternoon, Young came across the 2-inch by 2-inch piece of granite Smith had given his wife several years ago.

Later, they found the barrel of a .22 rifle that belonged to Smith’s father.

The pile of what had been the Smiths’ home sat not 100 yards from his parents’ home. Fire had charred grass between the structures, reaching right to the edge of his parents’ house and within 15 feet of a propane tank. But other than some fencing, the house was in good condition.

When he evacuated on Friday, Smith met up with a neighbor and watched television coverage of the wildfires in disbelief as a news helicopter showed the neighbor’s 50-year-old barn engulfed in flames.

“Nobody knew what was going on,” Smith said. “The firemen were out here doing the best they could. The wind was just blowing so fast. People were freaking out because their homes are gone and they can see their homes burning on the news. It’s hard for a lot of people.”

The days and weeks ahead will be full of clearing the destruction and trying to rebuild, but for so many people, what was lost can never be replaced.

Margie Clark can find new peony flowers to plant in front of her next home, but they won't be the same ones that burned on Friday. Those peonies had been in the family for roughly a century, dating back to when Margie’s grandmother had planted them in front of her home.

When her grandmother could no longer care for them, Margie replanted them at her home. She was tending to them on Friday when she noticed smoke rolling in.

“My family has been growing those same peonies for 100 years or more,” Donnie Jr. said. “I know it’s just a flower, but it’s been cultivated by our family for a long time.

“Those plants are gone now.  Ain’t no telling what all she lost in the house. Everything my parents owned was in that house.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Cleanup, damage assessment begins after Oklahoma wildfires