NEW: Fire rages south and east of Noble

By Peggy Laizure

February 23, 2009 05:14 pm

— Cleveland County Commissioners renewed the burn ban in the county while grass fires raged near Slaughterville. Around 2 p.m. Monday, fire departments from Norman, Noble, Lexington, Little Axe and Cedar Country responded to the fire, east of 120th Avenue between Cemetery and Maguire roads.
A canyon run through the area and is making it difficult for responders to get to the fire. The fire did jump across Maguire Road at one time but has been extinguished.
Maguire Road, east of 120th, and 120th Avenue, south of Maguire, has been closed to non-emergency traffic. Schools buses were turned away but will be rerouted, said Noble School Superintendent Greg Kasbaum.
"We have to route around that area," he said. "We have a transportation director that will keep on top of that."
Noble schools also has radio systems on the buses and the drivers will report scenarios like that. The dispatcher communicates with the buses and reroutes them around those dangerous areas, Kasbaum said.
He said the situation will slow down the delivery of the children like it does in inclement weather but the radio helps up communicate with everyone.
Frank Solomon, Noble High School principal also serves as the director of transportation.
Although the fire had not burned any structures, residents were seen wetting down their lawns with garden hoses.