Fast-moving wildfires push from Oklahoma panhandle to Kansas

Lauren Rosenthal and Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Feb 18, 2026

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Bone-dry weather and gusty winds are complicating efforts to contain a massive wildfire burning across Oklahoma’s panhandle, with little relief expected heading into Thursday as flames spread into neighboring Kansas.

The Ranger Road Fire has consumed 145,000 acres, or an area about 10 times the size of Manhattan. The blaze is one of four active wildfires raging in the northwest, according to an update from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry. In all, the fires had consumed about 156,000 acres Wednesday as daytime temperatures in Oklahoma’s panhandle neared 70F (21C) — roughly 15F above normal.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt declared a state of emergency for three counties, and some residents have been forced to evacuate. Four firefighters were injured, forestry officials said.

Weather conditions are expected to remain dry overnight Wednesday, said Scott Stearns, a warning coordination meteorologist for the U.S. Storm Prediction Center, giving any fires a chance to grow as winds shift away from the Kansas border and back to the southeast, toward Oklahoma City.

“That change in wind direction puts the flaming front on a different orientation,” Stearns said. “That’s particularly concerning for crews that are trying to suppress the fire — not only for their safety, but also because of a sudden increase in fire activity in a new direction.”

Oklahoma is a hub of U.S. oil flows and is known as the pipeline crossroads of the world. About 25 million barrels of crude is stored in Cushing, in north-central Oklahoma, the largest onshore storage hub in the U.S. and delivery point for benchmark futures.

Northern Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, said minor damage occurred to some above-ground auxiliary equipment, fencing and signage, but its operations were not impacted. Its underground pipeline facilities were not affected, the company said in an emailed statement.

Kinder Morgan Inc., which operates the Colorado Interstate Gas pipeline through a subsidiary, said that a compressor station in Beaver County, Oklahoma shut down on Tuesday afternoon due to power outages and wildfire conditions in the area before it was restarted on Wednesday morning.

“Besides that, there has been no other impact to operations,” said Taylor Smith, a spokesperson for the company. “We are closely monitoring the situation.”

Oklahoma is home to major refineries operated by Valero Energy Corp., Phillips 66, HF Sinclair and CVR Energy. None of the fuel-making plants, which collectively refine 550,000 barrels of oil daily, are located in the Oklahoma panhandle where the wildfires have been concentrated.

A stretch of unusually hot, dry weather has left the Great Plains starved for moisture and vulnerable to fire. There’s little rain in the forecast through next Wednesday, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

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(With assistance from Nathan Risser, Denise Lu, Cedric Sam and Charles Gorrivan.)

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