Surprising Ways Wildfires Start Across Oklahoma

After a weekend wildfire hit a little too close to home here in SWOK, it's probably as good a time as any to brush up on the incredibly common ways fires get sparked.

While most people will just cast off the thought that wildfires are overwhelmingly due to careless smokers who toss out their cigarette butts, that's not as common as you'd think. I mean, it is one of a million ways. But there are more confirmed causes of what actually starts wildfires, especially here in SWOK.

It can be something as simple as a rancher pulling off the road to get his daily count of cattle in some dry grass that's a little too high. A contractor pulling his work trailer to the next job. Even Mother Nature sparks a furious number of fires each year during our wild summer thunderstorms. It's just a side effect of it being so dry.

Scroll through this list, make a mental note, and the next time you leave the house, try to take a little more care and thought until we get one of those fall soakers we need so badly.