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Green Country firefighters head west to help battle wildfires

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TULSA -- Tulsa Task Force teams set to deploy a second time to western Oklahoma to assist crews battling massive wildfires.

Last week over 30 firefighters from nine different departments in Green Country trekked to towns like Vici and Leedey.

The two Task Force teams had nine grass fire trucks, three command vehicles, two communication units and an ambulance.

The crews battled the fire throughout 48 hours, spending the night sleeping inside a church.

Tulsa Fire Deputy Chief said the area had wildfires in previous years, but the dry conditions and low humidity this year made a recipe for disaster.

"They had rain last spring, grew the grass way up, the last rain they had out there was in October," said Deputy Chief Andy Teeter.

According to Oklahoma Forestry Services the Rhea fire has burned 283,085 acres.

First responders have about three percent of it contained.

Another team deploys tomorrow around 4:30 a.m. from the Tulsa Fire Department training center to help the men and women in western Oklahoma.

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