Okmulgee County News Source

Showing off the new fire danger sign in western Okmulgee County are Tim Craighton, director of the Okmulgee County Emergency Management office (left) along with Ryan Fitzl and Charlie Hurley of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Okmulgee Agency. 
(Staff photo by Herman Brown)

Fire danger sign erected near Nuyaka
BIA’s Okmulgee Agency funds warning method for western part of county
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Okmulgee Agency has funded the placement of a fire danger sign for an area in western Okmulgee County.
The colorful sign featuring Smokey The Bear was installed Wednesday at the intersection of State Highway 56 and the Nuyaka Road. There were representatives of the BIA’s Okmulgee Agency on hand along with Tim Craighton, director of the Okmulgee County Emergency Management office and representatives of the Nuyaka Volunteer Fire Department.
The new fire danger sign is like the others around the county. There are 5 levels of fire danger and the sign is changed on an as-needed basis. Members of the Nuyaka Fire Department will be responsible for adjusting the warning level posted on the sign. The volunteers will receive a cell phone text from a state agency that is constantly monitoring the weather conditions. If a change is needed, they’ll get instructions on what the new level should display.
“They’ll tell us when we need to change it (the rating),” said Chad Bond of the Nuyaka Volunteer Fire Department.  “It will be up to us to get it changed.”
The county emergency director added that these signs are a great way to alert passing motorists of the fire danger hazard at any given time. Craignton noted that there are similar fire danger signs in Beggs, Okmulgee, Morris, Grayson and Dewar. 
The sign added on Wednesday will help to cover the area in the western (central) portion of the county.
The people living in the area will be warned that conditions are too dangerous to do trash burning or other potentially-hazardous burning during certains periods.